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OUT  WHERE 
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A  1 JUL*    W  V^lXJul/ 


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OUT  WHERE 
THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

ABE  CORY 


HERE    WAS    SYLVIA    MARRIED   TO   THE   GODS 

In  such  a  lamasery  where  dwelt  a  horde  of  Tibetan  Lamas  was  Sylvia  Lambert  hidden.  This 
is  the  Lamasery  of  Derge — part  of  the  country  over  which  Sylvia  was  taken  as  a  captive. 
The  house  in  the  foreground  is  the  castle  of  the  Prince  of  Derge  and  is  one  of  the  finest 
buildings  in  Tibet. 


LOZONG  WORSHIPING  AT  WAYSIDE  SHRINE 

Along  the  roads  of  Tibet  the  faithful  Buddist 
finds  the  shrine  where  he  may  worship,  hang 
his  prayer  flag  or  make  his  offering.  Such  a 
devotee  as  Lozong  would  not  pass  one  of 
these  without  stopping. 


OUT  WHERE 
THE   WORLD   BEGINS 

A  Story  of  a  Far  Country 

BY 

ABE  CORY 

'Author  of  "The  Trail  to  the 
Hearts  of  Men"  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  ^taJr  YORK 

GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


Copyright,  1921, 
By  George  H.  Doran  Company 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


DEDICATED 

TO 

THOSE    FAR  SOULS   WHO   HAVE    LIVED   AND 

JOURNEYED   OUT   WHERE    THE    WORLD   BEGINS,   AND- 

WHOSE    FRIENDSHIP,    COURAGE    AND    EXAMPLE 

HAVE    MADE   THIS   STORY   POSSIBLE 


2134745 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  *AGB 

I  THE  WORLD'S  EDGE     .     •.-.  ™  M  m  13 

II  ROADS  OF  DANGER  .      .     r.  r.i  r.i  M  34 

III  Do  THE  GODS  WILL  IT?  .  r.i  ™  t«  39 

IV  THE  WATERS  OF  THE  SKY  .  (.i  M  45 

V  THE  HAND  OF  POWER  .     •.  M  r.i  w  52 

VI  THE  REAL  PIONEER     .     ,.  ,.,  m  >:  63 

VII  ALONE ...  ,.,  ,.}  69 

VIII  "I  WILL  FIND  HIM"     .      .  M  r.,  :.  76 

IX  CAPTURED  AGAIN     .      .     ,.•  r.i  r.i  1.1  88 

X  WITHIN  LAMASERY  WALLS  .  t.,  M  t.,  94 

XI  THE  DOCTOR  COMES     .     w  w  t.i  ^  105 

XII  HOPELESS  HOPE       ...,.•  >,  ,.  116 

XIII  THE  WIFE  OF  THE  GODS  .  ,.i  w  i.;  128 

XIV  A  RIGHTEOUS  ABBOT     .      .  >.  &  t.,  136 

XV  THE  CHINESE  MESSENGER  .  t.:  w  t.,  145 

XVI  WHAT  MEANETH  LOVE?     .  .  ..  .  153 

XVII  A  VISIT  TO  THE  HIDING  PLACE  r«  w  164 

Vii 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVIII     ESCAPE 176 

XIX     THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  SOUL     .      .      .  190 

XX     FAMILY  TIES  BROKEN 198 

XXI     CONQUERING  SELF 209 

XXII     "GREATER     LOVE     HATH     No    MAN 

THAN  THIS"  .  217 


vm 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

HERE  WAS  SYLVIA  MARRIED  TO  THE  GODS 

LOZONG  WORSHIPING  AT  WAYSIDE  SHRINE 

Frontispiece 

PAGE 

FORDING  A  TIBETAN  RIVER   ......       42 

ANOTHER  LAKE  OF  BLUE 42 

THE    NOMAD'S    TENT    WHERE    DR.    RAYMOND 

FOUND  His  FRIEND 82 

THE  DOCTOR  SEEKING  THE  TRAIL  OF  LOZONG  .        82 
LOZONG'S  HIDING  PLACE  .  ...     :.     >:     17Q 


OUT  WHERE 
THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  WORLD 's  EDGE 

A  LITTLE  caravan  of  shaggy  ponies 
and  unkempt  camels  of  uncertain  age, 
which  had  come  from  the  templed  hills  of 
Eastern  China  and  carried  their  burdens  of 
food  and  supplies  for  the  expectant  traveler 
over  the  mountains  and  deserts  of  Northern 
China,  crossed  the  line  that  separates  China 
from  Tibet  in  following  the  trail  to  Lhasa. 
It  was  a  sudden  transition.    The  tile  and 
straw  roofs  of  Chinese  houses,  the  springless 
carts  of  Chinese  roads  and  the  many  other 
signs    that    forever    make    China    distinct 
seemed  to  have  vanished.    The  caravan  was 
13 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

climbing  at  an  altitude  of  between  nine  and 
ten  thousand  feet  above  sea  level,  journey- 
ing toward  that  age-locked  land  on  the  roof 
of  the  world,  Tibet.  They  crossed  a  little 
mountain  stream  beside  which  were  camped 
Mongols  clad  in  dirty  fur  garments,  who 
were  watering  their  rugged  ponies,  and  the 
woman  who  rode  ahead  caught  sight  of  the 
black  tent  of  a  Tibetan  nomad  in  the  dis- 
tance. This  was  her  first  view  of  the  dwell- 
ings of  this  remote,  nomadic  nation. 

"At  last,"  she  murmured,  as  she  looked 
upon  the  scene.  What  a  difference  between 
the  surroundings  of  her  earlier  life  in  Amer- 
ica and  the  majestic  hills  now  about  her. 
Not  less  marked  was  the  change  which  the 
last  five  years  had  wrought  in  her,  for  no 
one  can  journey  far  into  strange  lands  and 
among  new  peoples  without  change.  The 
wonderful  complexion  of  her  earlier  youth 
had  become  rough  and  brown  from  exposure, 
and  into  her  eyes  bright  with  the  joy  of  life 
had  come  also  a  look  of  determination  and 
purpose. 

14 


THE  WORLD'S  EDGE 

Many  people  had  laughed  at  her  deter- 
mination to  go  to  Lhasa,  the  capital  of  Tibet 
and  the  remote  citadel  of  the  head  of  the 
worshipers  of  the  mystic  Buddha.  Many 
had  even  asked,  "Where  is  Tibet?"  When 
she  landed  at  Shanghai  and  found  her  way 
to  Peking,  the  consular  officials  and  the 
people  of  the  easy  life  of  the  port  cities  of 
China  looked  upon  her  as  a  woman  fashioned 
only  for  drawing-rooms  and  ridiculed  her 
when  she  talked  of  Lhasa.  To  j  ourney  there 
meant  hardship  and  danger  and  many  had 
lost  their  lives  in  the  attempt.  She  had  tar- 
ried at  Peking  and  devoted  much  time  to 
the  study  of  the  Chinese  and  Tibetan  lan- 
guages, and  after  a  few  months  those  who 
were  expert  in  these  pronounced  her  knowl- 
edge of  them  above  the  average. 

She  was  on  her  way  to  Lhasa,  not  wholly 
because  of  her  love  of  adventure,  but  be- 
cause she  had  been  dared  to  go.  The  chal- 
lenge was  one  of  those  incidents  that  seem 
trivial  at  the  time,  but  which  lead  to  unalter- 
able changes  in  our  lives.  There  had  been 
15 


iWHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

awakened  in  her  many  feelings  of  protest 
against  the  commonplace  of  modern  society 
and  she  had  left  it  for  the  strange  and  un- 
tried. The  force  that  step  by  step  was  lead- 
ing her  to  the  top  of  the  world  to  face  dan- 
gers that  strong  men  feared  was  not  alone 
the  desire  of  adventure  and  the  result  of  the 
dare.  She  felt  an  insatiable  desire  to  seek 
and  know  a  life  free  from  the  veneer  of  mod- 
ern society.  She  knew  that  beneath  the  glit- 
ter and  gloss  there  was  no  contentment  or 
reality.  After  she  had  finished  her  college 
course  and  had  traveled  much  in  Europe  she 
returned  to  her  home  town  in  a  middle  west- 
ern State  to  look  after  business  affairs  which 
had  become  hers  upon  the  death  of  her 
parents. 

The  dare  came  then  from  a  man  who 
wooed  her  and  whom  she  admired,  but  the 
whole  society  in  which  she  moved  palled  upon 
her  and  she  longed  for  something  different. 
Her  soul  was  seeking  its  own  and  she  would 
not  allow  it  to  be  killed.  It  was  when  this 
man  asked  her  to  be  his  wife  that  the  test 

16 


THE  WORLD'S  EDGE 

came.  When  he  asked  her  for  her  answer, 
instantly  she  said,  "No."  And  then  came 
the  other  question,  "Why?" 

Sylvia  Lambert,  being  honest  at  heart, 
told  him  that  she  felt  honored  because  he 
wanted  her  to  become  his  wife. 

"I  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  love," 
she  said,  "and  I  have  come  to  wonder  if  there 
is  such  a  thing  as  real  love,  at  least  for  me. 
Don't  think  I  am  cynical,  for  I  don't  mean 
to  be." 

"I  have  studied  men,"  she  continued,  "and 
I  have  come  to  feel  that  not  one  of  them  can 
be  unselfish  in  his  love,  that  every  man  who 
seeks  a  woman  thinks  only  of  her  beauty  and 
of  her  appearance  rather  than  of  her  soul 
and  character,  and  for  this  reason  I  am 
afraid  I  shall  never  marry.  There  is  some- 
thing inside  of  me  that  is  always  unsatisfied. 
Oh!"  she  exclaimed,  with  her  eyes  aglow,  "I 
want  adventure.  It  is  fine  to  be  wooed  by 
a  man  like  you,  yet  all  men  are  so  much 
alike,  and  it's  experience  I  want  before  I 
marry." 

17 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

The  man  was  silent  for  a  moment,  and 
then,  impatiently  and  half  in  anger,  asked: 

"What  kind  of  adventure?" 

"Oh,"  she  said  thoughtfully,  "I  want  to 
meet  men  who  are  different,  men  who  have 
not  been  poured  into  the  same  mold  and 
think  that  only  custom  is  important.  I  want 
to  go  out  where  men's  souls  are  tried.  I 
would  like  to  be  afraid  once.  I  would  like  to 
test  myself  and  to  be  tested  as  the  women  of 
the  past  were  tried,  for  the  women  of  to-day 
have  become  soft  and  weak  because  they 
know  nothing  of  fear." 

He  smiled  as  she  went  on  in  her  enthusi- 
asm, and  with  a  sarcastic  expression  on  his 
lips  he  asked: 

"Why  don't  you  go  to  Lhasa?" 

She  turned  upon  him. 

"To  Lhasa?  I  have  heard  of  Lhasa,  but 
where  is  it?" 

"It's  where  no  foreign  woman  has  ever 
been.    It's  out  on  the  roof  of  the  world,  it's 
out  where  the  world  begins." 
18 


THE  WORLD'S  EDGE 

His  apparent  contempt  drove  her  to 
prompt  decision. 

"I  will  go,"  she  said  in  a  determined  voice, 
"for  I  am  sure  that  there  men  are  natural, 
that  there  human  nature  is  not  made  to  con- 
form to  standards  set  by  others.  I  will  go, 
for  out  where  the  world  begins  there  must  be 
adventure,  fear  and  reality.  There  I  will 
know  if  the  world  holds  real  men  and  if  I  can 
find  myself." 

Five  years  elapsed.  She  had  many  times 
nearly  turned  back.  She  could  not  hurry 
across  China  to  the  far  border  of  Tibet  for 
there  were  so  many  things  to  learn  and  do 
of  which  she  had  never  dreamed  when  she 
made  her  decision.  The  years  had  been 
full  of  experience  and  learning.  She  had 
come  with  open  eyes,  realizing  that  she  must 
know  the  road  if  she  hoped  to  gain  that  far 
city  toward  which  many  had  journeyed  and 
which  so  few  had  reached.  In  journeying 
across  China  Sylvia  Lambert  had  learned  to 
honor  those  who  left  home  to  reside  in  cities 
19 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

far  from  the  ports,  and  who  were  in  these 
towns  the  only  American  or  English  resi- 
dents, the  missionaries.  They  had  helped 
her  with  the  Chinese  language,  for  they 
spoke  it  well,  and  upon  approaching  the  bor- 
ders of  Kansu  she  realized  more  and  more 
how  greatly  they  had  assisted  her.  Reluct- 
antly, but  with  no  change  of  purpose,  she 
said  good-bye  to  the  last  of  these.  Against 
their  protests  she  kept  her  face  turned  to 
the  west. 

She  was  not  sorry  that  she  had  chosen  the 
road  through  China  to  Lhasa  rather  than  the 
one  through  India  and  Dajeerling.  Men 
had  gone  the  Eastern  route  by  force  of  arms, 
but  those  who  had  traveled  this  road  had 
won  their  way  by  kindness,  for  this  was  the 
road  of  the  missionary  and  the  caravan. 

As  her  caravan  found  its  way  over  the 
hills  she  saw  a  straggling  village  built  on  the 
slope  of  a  hill,  at  the  foot  of  which  two  small 
streams  came  together.  Poplar  saplings 
were  growing  in  scattered  groves  and  every- 
20 


THE  WORLD'S  EDGE 

where  were  shaggy  yaks,  camels  and  little 
herds  of  rough  ponies. 

When  the  caravan  entered  the  town  of 
Lusar,  Sylvia  Lambert  realized  that  at  last 
she  was  in  Tibet.  Down  the  long  narrow 
street  of  mud-walled,  flat-roofed  houses  she 
went,  the  center  of  observation,  for  a  Chi- 
nese servant  sent  ahead  to  secure  lodging 
in  an  inn  had  announced  their  coming.  He 
came  running  out  to  meet  her.  Curious 
people  came  in  crowds,  for  word  had  run 
quickly  down  the  street  that  an  unmarried 
foreign  woman  was  traveling  in  Tibet. 
From  doorways  and  from  the  roofs  of  the 
houses  people  watched  her.  She  had  be- 
come accustomed  to  being  called  a  foreign 
devil  in  China,  but  here  the  people  were 
silent.  Some  of  them  had  seen  a  mission- 
ary's wife,  but  they  had  never  before  seen 
an  unmarried  woman  from  the  Occident. 
Such  a  person  was  phenomenal. 

The  blue-gowned  men  and  women  in 
China  had  become  familiar  to  Sylvia  Lam- 
bert, but  in  this  curious  Tibetan  town  it 
21 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

seemed  that  every  type  of  the  strange  and 
unknown  was  commingled.  The  Chinese 
were  there,  as  they  are  everywhere  in  Asia. 
Representatives  of  every  Tibetan  tribe  and 
caste,  from  east,  west,  north  and  south,  were 
marked  by  the  differences  in  thein  color, 
facial  expression  or  dress;  the  Mongols  by 
gowns  of  fur,  the  Lamas  by  shaved  heads, 
the  red-capped  men  of  eastern  Tibet  by 
matted  hair  and  gowns  of  sheepskin  which 
hung  only  to  their  knees  and  by  raw-hide 
boots.  She  noticed  the  women  with  their 
hair  in  heavy  braids  hanging  to  their  waists 
and  smiled  at  the  contrast  between  this 
fashion  and  her  own  smooth  coil. 

Her  servant  took  her  to  the  inn.  The  inns 
of  the  east  for  the  most  part  have  but  one 
room — where  the  animals  were  tied  at  one 
end  of  the  room  and  where  but  little  privacy 
could  be  found. 

The  most  important  thing  before  her  was 
the  organization  of  the  caravan  and  the  ar- 
rangements necessary  to  pass  the  officials 
and  Lamas  in  order  to  proceed  to  Lhasa.  A 


THE  WORLD'S  EDGE 

young  Lama  named  Bao  Lama  was  brought 
to  her,  who  said  that  he  had  gone  to  Lhasa 
five  times  and  wanted  to  go  again.  He  rep- 
resented to  her  that  she  would  not  find  the 
journey  difficult,  but  she  was  not  deceived 
by  what  he  said  because  she  had  learned  in 
China  how  hazardous  was  the  road  to  that 
far  city,  holy  to  every  Tibetan,  and  how 
many  diplomats,  explorers,  scientists  and 
missionaries  had  failed  in  their  attempt  to 
reach  it.  She  learned  from  the  missionaries 
that  she  could  not  expect  to  go  to  Lhasa  as 
a  traveler  only,  but  that  the  only  way  would 
be  to  win  the  people  by  ministering  to  them. 
She  enjoined  all  her  servants  and  also  the 
Lama  to  speak  no  word  about  her  destina- 
tion for  she  knew  a  great  deal  about  Tibet 
and  had  learned  that  every  sentence  of  the 
east  is  winged  no  matter  what  the  precau- 
tion. Opportunity  was  quickly  given,  how- 
ever, which  made  it  possible  for  her  to  find  a 
place  in  the  hearts  of  some  of  the  people  of 
the  village  which  lay  so  close  to  the  big  mon- 
astery of  Kumbum. 

23 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

As  she  sat  talking  to  Bao  Lama  and  to  the 
Chinese  woman  who  had  served  her  during 
all  her  stay  in  China,  the  wife  of  the  inn- 
keeper came  rushing  in  to  tell  her  that  a 
caravan  from  northern  Tibet  had  been  at- 
tacked by  a  robber  band  and  that  a  woman, 
seriously  injured,  was  dying  in  a  tent  at 
the  end  of  the  street.  The  remote  districts 
of  China  and  Tibet,  because  the  mission- 
ary doctors  are  great  travelers,  thought  that 
every  white  person  had  the  power  of  heal- 
ing. Sylvia  Lambert  had  learned  the  value 
of  simple  remedies  and  how  to  administer 
them.  She  had  stood  in  the  operating 
room  of  many  of  the  doctors  in  China,  where 
she  had  learned  how  to  cleanse  wounds,  to 
keep  them  free  from  infection,  and  to  stop 
the  flow  of  blood.  Taking  her  Chinese  ser- 
vant she  hurried  to  the  tent  and  found  the 
woman  in  a  serious  condition.  For  hours 
she  ministered  to  her,  giving  her  the  simple 
remedies  which  would  lessen  pain. 

On  leaving  the  tent  she  saw  the  sun  just 
sinking  behind  the  mountains  that  hid 
24 


THE  WORLD'S  EDGE 

Lhasa,  the  far  away  city  of  her  dreams.  She 
turned,  and  instead  of  walking  in  the  town, 
went  out  towards  the  mountains.  An  occa- 
sional traveler  journeyed  towards  Lusar,  a 
caravan  passed  her,  and  then  a  few  men 
riding  leisurely  on  ponies  came  down  the 
trail.  At  their  head  rode  a  man  probably 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  dark  of  skin,  and 
with  a  mouth  which  seemed  always  to  smile 
yet  which  was  always  hard.  Their  eyes  met 
long.  Then  he  threw  himself  from  his  pony 
and  stood  staring  at  her  with  an  expression 
in  his  eyes  which  she  had  never  seen  before 
in  the  eyes  of  any  human  being.  He  turned 
abruptly,  and  walking  ahead  of  his  pony 
strode  towards  the  town.  She  had  been  at- 
tracted to  him,  not  alone  by  his  face  and 
physique,  but  also  because  his  dress  marked 
him  as  a  man  of  rank.  She  had  seen  many 
Tibetans  of  the  humbler  class  or  the  gray 
clad  Lamas,  but  she  had  never  seen  a  chief- 
tain dressed  as  was  this  man.  He  wore  a 
gown  of  fine  woolen  cloth,  red  in  color  and 
trimmed  with  otter  skin  around  the  edges 
25 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

and  around  the  cuffs.  The  soles  of  his  boots 
were  rawhide,  and  the  tops  were  made 
of  blue  woolen  broadcloth.  His  hair  was 
augumented  by  a  sufficient  amount  of  yak 
hair  and  was  plaited  into  a  long  queue,  on 
which  were  enormous  rings  set  with  coral  and 
turquoise,  and  wound  around  his  head,  hav- 
ing somewhat  of  the  appearance  of  a  crown, 
with  the  end  of  the  queue  dangling  like  a 
tassel  at  one  side  of  his  head.  This  was 
capped  by  a  red  turban.  He  wore  a  girdle 
with  a  sword  sticking  straight  through  it,  the 
handle  of  which  contained  a  coral  as  large  as 
a  pigeon  egg.  The  scabbard  was  decorated 
with  three  large  corals  similar  to  the  one  on 
the  hilt.  From  one  side  of  his  girdle  hung 
his  flint  and  steel,  which  was  also  much  be- 
decked with  silver  and  set  with  turquoise. 
From  the  other  side  of  his  girdle  dangled  a 
small  case  also  similarly  bedecked  with  sil- 
ver. This  case  contained  a  knife  for  eating 
and  a  pair  of  ivory  chop-sticks.  Inside  of 
his  gown  he  carried  the  inevitable  wooden 
bowl,  silver  lined.  He  had  hanging  from 

26 


THE  WORLD'S  EDGE 

one  of  his  ears  a  long  earring  made  of  gold, 
in  the  center  of  which  was  a  large  coral,  and 
at  the  point  of  which  was  a  beautiful  blue 
turquoise. 

As  Sylvia  Lambert  stood  looking  at  the 
sinking  sun  she  continued  to  think  of  this 
man  so  strangely  dressed,  different  in  fact 
from  the  average  Tibetan  she  had  seen,  yet  a 
man  who  she  knew  was  strong  in  will  and 
action.  She  turned  and  followed  him  as  his 
band  made  its  way  in  the  distance  towards 
Lusar.  She  saw  him  stop  and  talk  to  a  man 
whom  she  had  passed  on  her  way  out  and 
who  had  long  stood  and  watched  her.  She 
could  tell  that  they  were  conversing  about 
her,  and  then  he  passed  on.  He  had  stopped 
to  ask  about  this  white-faced  woman  and 
they  had  told  him  that  she  was  on  her  way  to 
Lhasa.  The  smile  left  his  face.  "To 
Lhasa?"  he  asked,  "Have  the  gods  decreed 
it?  What  is  the  wiU  of  the  gods?" 

Indifferent  to  these  questionings  and  yet 
vaguely  apprehensive,  Sylvia  Lambert  re- 
27 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

turned  to  the  Tibetan  inn.  She  went  to  the 
corner  where  her  woman  had  arranged  for 
her  to  stay  and  where  she  was  forced  to  tarry 
while  her  caravan  was  being  organized  to 
begin  the  long  journey  of  many  months. 
She  found  the  inn  crowded,  for  it  was  near^ 
ing  a  feast  time  at  the  lamasery  and  people 
were  coming  from  great  distances.  At  one 
of  the  low  tables  which  filled  one  end  of  the 
room  and  on  which  supper  was  being  served, 
she  saw  the  man  whose  gaze  had  held  hers 
on  the  path  outside  the  village. 

"Who  is  that  tall  man  whose  red  garments 
show  that  he  is  a  chieftain,  seated  there  with 
a  number  of  men  about  him?"  she  asked  the 
Tibetan  woman  who  served  about  the  inn 
and  who  was  related  to  the  innkeeper. 

"Ah,"  the  woman  replied,  "that  man" — 
and  she  stretched  her  hands  out,  palms  up, 
as  if  in  greeting — "Who  should  know  his 
business  ?  To-day  he  dwells  here,  to-morrow 
yonder.  His  family  has  the  tent  of  a  nomad. 
He  has  flocks  but  whence  came  the  money 
to  buy  them?"  And  then  dropping  her  voice 

28 


THE  WORLD'S  EDGE 

she  whispered,  "A  robber  band  attacked  a 
caravan  and  you  have  gone  to  yonder  tent  to 
minister  to  a  woman.  The  whisper  of  the 
street  says  it  was  the  band  of  Lozong,  Lo- 
zong  the  feared,  Lozong  the  terrible,  Lozong 
the  wonderful,  Lozong  the  just." 

"From  where  has  he  come?"  questioned 
the  foreign  woman  again. 

"Ah,  some  say  from  the  lake  of  the  blue, 
called  Kokonor.  Others  say  he  is  from  this 
province  or  from  that,  but  the  fact  is  that 
since  he  was  a  lad  of  fifteen  he  has  been 
everywhere,  to  Lhasa,  to  the  edge  of  India, 
and  to  the  north.  He  knows  where  are  the 
rivers  of  golden  sands.  His  power" — and 
her  voice  dropped  to  a  whisper,  "There  are 
officials  of  Tibet,  but  his  word  is  law." 

By  the  light  of  the  dim  butter  lamp  they 
saw  him  talking  to  a  surrounding  group  and 
asking  questions.  The  men  were  leaning 
forward  listening  eagerly  to  his  every  word, 
while  over  his  face  played  constantly  a  ma- 
levolent smile.  Once  she  imagined  that  she 
heard  in  Tibetan  the  words  "foreign 
29 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

woman."  Often  she  heard  the  word 
"Lhasa."  She  watched  them  for  a  while, 
then  dropped  the  improvised  curtain  which 
the  Chinese  woman  had  hung  in  the  corner, 
for  the  woman  from  China  had  been  shocked 
at  the  easy  way  the  men  and  women  of  Tibet 
mingled. 

The  next  day,  following  the  custom  of 
every  traveler,  she  went  to  the  lamasery. 
It  was  really  a  village  in  itself.  There  was 
one  central  building  and  scattered  about  it 
were  numerous  smaller  temples  and  the 
buildings  which  housed  the  thousands  of 
lamas  who  sometimes  gathered  there  at  the 
feast  times.  Because  of  the  feast  time,  all 
of  the  courtyards  leading  to  the  central 
building — in  which  was  the  re-incarnated 
Buddha  of  whom  there  are  several  in  Tibet 
— were  filled  with  the  tents  and  stands  of 
those  who  had  come  to  sell  to  the  travelers. 
Her  Chinese  companion  had  previously  been 
in  Kumbum  and  so  walked  without  fear, 
even  when  the  cry  arose  that  the  Black 
30 


THE  WORLD'S  EDGE 

Lamas,  with  their  great  whips,  were  going 
to  clear  the  street  of  improper  traffic. 

The  crowds  jostled  the  two  women  until 
it  was  difficult  to  proceed.  They  found 
themselves  treated  with  greater  respect  when 
joined  by  Bao  Lama,  who  had  promised  to 
accompany  her.  Drawing  near  a  group  of 
men  who  were  standing  about  one  of  the 
gambling  stands  she  again  saw  the  man  who 
had  stopped  to  look  at  her  in  the  road  and 
who  had  been  pointed  out  in  the  inn  as  the 
robber  chief  Lozong.  She  had  not  seen  him 
since  the  night  before;  and  as  she  approached 
the  group  he  turned  toward  her;  this  time 
she  clutched  at  her  throat,  for  her  heart 
seemed  to  leap  there,  as  she  read  the  hatred 
and  enmity  in  the  look  he  gave  her.  Then 
he  seemed  to  notice  her  beauty  and  the  look 
of  hatred  changed  to  one  of  desire.  For  the 
first  time  Sylvia  Lambert  felt  real  fear.  She 
turned  to  Bao  Lama  and  said,  "Let  us  go." 
Bao  Lama  was  halted  by  a  voice  of  command 
behind  him.  She  was  conscious  that  the  rob- 
ber chief  was  calling  to  him. 
31 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

Returning,  Bao  Lama  said : 
"Let  us  go  into  the  inner  room." 
When  he  led  her  into  one  of  the  private 
rooms  of  worship  she  hardly  saw  the  great 
idol,  but  turned  quickly  to  Bao  Lama. 

"What  did  he  say?"  she  asked.  She  knew 
intuitively  that  the  robber  chief  had  said 
something  to  the  Lama  which  was  to  affect 
her  future. 

Bao  Lama  was  very  polite  in  an  attempt 
to  evade  an  answer,  but  with  the  directness 
of  the  Occident  she  questioned  him. 

"You  need  not  try  to  hide  it,  I  will  know." 
"Lozong  asks  why  you  go  to  Lhasa,"  Bao 
Lama  replied  after  some  hesitancy.  "He 
wants  to  know  if  it  is  the  will  of  the  gods. 
I  have  told  him  that  your  government  wills 
it.  I  have  told  him  that  your  religion  wills 
it.  But  this  man  whom  all  Tibet  knows  and 
whom  all  eastern  Tibet  fears,  says  you  shall 
not  go  to  Lhasa.  He  says  you  have  no  right 
to  go.  He  has  said  this  in  a  dozen  stores. 
Even  the  street  is  talking.  Would  it  not  be 
better  for  you  to  turn  back?" 
32 


THE  WORLD'S  EDGE 

She  was  positive  in  her  declaration  that  she 
was  going  to  Lhasa.  She  had  known  that 
opposition  would  have  to  be  met.  She  could 
not  believe  that  a  man  of  such  evident  power 
would  oppose  her.  "I  will  pay  no  heed.  I 
have  come  too  far  and  with  too  fixed  a  pur- 
pose to  be  turned  back." 

"I  am  a  woman  but  I  am  not  afraid,"  she 
added.  "The  gods  may  not  will  it  but  go 
and  tell  Lozong  that  Sylvia  Lambert  wills 
to  go  to  Lhasa." 


33 


CHAPTER  II 

ROADS  OF  DANGER 

QJYLVIA  LAMBERT  moved  with  great 
kJ  speed  for  she  realized  that  haste  was 
necessary.  She  studied  with  a  woman's  cun- 
ning how  she  could  outwit  this  man  who  had 
suddenly  thrust  his  will  against  hers.  After 
five  years  of  preparation  she  would  not  be 
thwarted. 

However,  nothing  could  be  accomplished 
secretly,  and  when  she  began  to  buy  her 
camels,  yaks  and  horses,  for  she  had  decided 
to  use  some  of  each,  not  knowing  what 
might  befall  her,  she  was  conscious  that  no 
transactions  were  made  and  that  she  did  not 
go  anywhere  without  the  knowledge  of  Lo- 
zong.  She  saw  him  almost  daily  and  at  first 
tried  to  avoid  him.  Once  she  spoke  to  him 
and  he  replied  quite  civilly. 
34 


ROADS  OF  DANGER 

She  had  planned  to  follow  the  main  trav- 
eled road  leading  from  Peking  to  Lhasa, 
which  messengers  usually  take  when  they  go 
over  the  northern  route,  hut  after  her  talk 
with  Bao  Lama  she  decided  that  it  might  be 
well  to  practice  a  little  oriental  diplomacy. 
In  this  she  was  unexpectedly  aided.  The 
little  caravan  that  had  been  robbed  by  Lo- 
zong's  band  was  recovering  from  the  attack. 
They  worshiped  before  the  great  image  of 
Buddha,  and,  without  the  things  which  they 
had  intended  to  purchase  with  the  money  of 
which  they  had  been  robbed,  organized  their 
caravan  and  prepared  to  journey  back  to 
their  homes  in  the  region  of  the  Kokonor. 

One  day  she  went  to  the  little  tent  at  the 
end  of  the  street.  The  husbands  of  the 
woman  who  had  been  injured — for  they  were 
polyandrists — begged  her  to  accompany 
their  caravan  on  the  journey  home,  thinking 
that  her  party  might  protect  them.  She 
gladly  accepted  their  offer,  and  one  morning 
when  the  sun  came  up  from  the  plains  and 
seas,  from  the  distant  home  land  that  lay  to 
35 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

the  east,  the  combined  caravan  started  on  its 
way. 

Bao  Lama  rode  ahead.  With  him  were 
two  men  who  were  to  care  for  the  animals 
and  two  soldiers  who  accompanied  them  by 
the  order  of  the  official,  not  to  afford  pro- 
tection, but  to  see  that  this  woman  paid  the 
tribute  of  graft  upon  which  eastern  officials 
live.  There  was  also  the  cook,  a  fearless 
Chinese  who  had  drifted  from  the  east,  and 
her  faithful  Chinese  woman.  These  com- 
posed the  little  party  that  she  proposed  to 
take  with  her  to  the  Kokonor.  There  the 
other  caravan  would  leave  her.  She  planned 
that  after  seeing  the  blue  of  that  wonderful 
inland  sea,  which  is  ten  thousand  feet  above 
ocean  level,  she  would  slip  away  from  the 
eyes  of  Lozong,  how  she  did  not  know,  and 
journey  on  to  Lhasa. 

The  first  day  was  to  be  an  ever  remem- 
bered one  for  her,  for  it  was  her  first  one 
spent  in  what  is  really  Tibet.  In  the  early 
morning  hours  the  golden  roof  of  the  mon- 
astery disappeared  as  they  journeyed  up- 

36 


ROADS  OF  DANGER 

ward  over  the  mountain  pass.  The  black 
tents  of  herders  could  be  seen  here  and  there ; 
during  the  first  day  the  other  caravan  told 
her  that  they  had  reached  the  place  where 
the  robbers  had  attacked  them.  The  little 
band  seemed  afraid.  As  they  started  to 
make  camp  for  the  night  two  or  three  Tibet- 
ans rode  up  on  Mongolian  ponies  and  it 
was  whispered  that  they  were  robbers. 
They  came  to  trade,  they  said,  but  they 
seemed  to  have  nothing  to  trade  and  all 
night  Sylvia  Lambert  lay  with  eyes  wide 
open.  Out  of  the  darkness  there  seemed  to 
come  a  thousand  forms.  She  realized  now 
what  the  protection  of  China  had  meant. 
She  was  more  alone  in  the  world  than  she 
had  ever  been  in  all  her  life.  She  remem- 
bered her  boast,  how  she  had  said  to  her 
friend  back  in  America  that  she  wanted  to 
be  afraid;  now  vividly  fear  was  upon  her. 
As  she  lay  wrapped  in  her  great  fur  robe, 
she  thought  of  Lozong  and  wondered  where 
he  was  and  if  he  were  following  her,  and  the 
question  came  whether  it  would  not  be  wise 
37 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

to  turn  back  from  the  Kokonor.  Little  did 
she  know  that  her  course  was  already  fixed. 
One  had  said,  "By  the  gods;"  another,  "It 
was  the  fates;"  but  at  the  end  of  the  long 
trail  she  was  to  know  that  it  was  by  the  high 
force  that  rules  all. 


CHAPTER  III 

DO  THE  GODS  WILL  IT? 

ON  the  morning  when  Sylvia  Lambert 
with  her  own  and  its  companion  cara- 
van rode  out  of  Lusar  a  group  of  men  could 
be  seen  loitering  about  the  street  and  in  the 
inn.  There  was  no  evident  preparation  that 
would  indicate  a  long  journey.  The  tall 
figure  of  Lozong  could  be  seen  moving 
among  the  villagers  and  pilgrims  or  going 
across  the  ravine  up  to  the  great  monastery 
on  the  hill.  If  any  one  stopped  to  speak  to 
him  it  was  with  the  greatest  respect,  and  as 
he  passed  the  people  turned  to  look  at  him 
with  both  admiration  and  fear,  and  whis- 
pered many  things  about  him.  Some  said 
he  was  a  native  of  the  province  of  Derge, 
others  that  no  man  knew  whence  he  came. 
There  were  rumors  that  he  and  his  brothers, 
who  were  with  him  here  in  Lusar,  paid  alle- 
39 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

giance  to  several  tribes.  The  blood  of  Golok, 
the  robber  tribe,  flowed  in  his  veins.  He  was 
taller  than  most  men  of  the  north,  resem- 
bling more  the  Tibetan  of  the  west.  But 
whatever  his  heritage,  one  look  into  his  eyes 
proved  that  his  blood  would  lead  him  far 
and  that  fear  was  unknown  to  him. 

The  people  of  the  street  knew  that  he  had 
declared  that  the  foreign  woman's  caravan 
should  not  proceed  to  Lhasa  and  some  even 
dared  to  ask  him  why  he  permitted  it  to 
start.  For  a  moment  he  looked  at  the  en- 
quirers with  his  usual  enigmatic  smile. 

"Horses  must  ever  travel  the  path,  but 
the  eagle  asks  not  for  time  nor  trail." 

With  this  reply  he  called  together  his 
caravan  and  forthwith  they  rode  away.  Be- 
sides himself  there  were  three  brothers,  two 
horsemen,  a  personal  servant  and  a  Lama. 
The  north,  the  east,  Lhasa  and  far  western 
Tibet  were  all  represented  in  the  group. 
Here  were  culture,  knowledge,  intrigue  and 
courage. 

The  little  caravan  that  started  early  in 
40 


DO  THE  GODS  WILL  IT? 

the  morning  had  gone  by  way  of  Tankar 
and  the  main  road,  but  Lozong's  party  rode 
singly  and  in  a  different  direction.  Those 
who  followed  it  part  of  the  way  wondered 
where  it  was  going,  but  others  said,  "Lozong 
knows  the  trail  of  the  deer  and  the  bear." 

With  this  magnificent  yet  brutal  figure  at 
their  head  they  rode  constantly  until  dark. 
Then  as  after  a  day's  work  well  done  they 
dismounted,  found  grass  for  the  horses  to 
graze  upon,  made  a  camp  fire  and  stacked 
their  old  guns  and  Lozong's  modern  rifle 
at  the  side  of  the  fire.  Great  and  small 
mingled  in  the  serving  of  the  evening  meal 
and  in  the  hour  of  talk  that  followed.  The 
Lama  who  traveled  with  Lozong  was  called 
Jii  Lama.  He  was  constantly  turning  his 
hand  prayer  wheel  to  bring  merit.  After 
the  meal  the  horses  were  caught  and  hob- 
bled, and  around  the  fire  the  men  gathered 
for  council. 

Then  Lozong  spoke:  Jii  Lama  ceased 
praying  and  all  were  attentive.  For  a  mo- 
ment Lozong  bowed  his  head  in  prayer, 
41 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

repeating  that  variously  interpreted  sen- 
tence, "Om  mani  padme  hum."  He  knew 
not  the  meaning  of  the  words,  but  to  him  it 
was  a  fervent  prayer.  It  was  formalism 
seeking  merit.  Then  he  raised  his  face. 

"Brothers  and  comrades,"  he  said,  "We 
go  toward  the  Lake  of  Blue.  Somewhere 
out  of  the  East  has  come  a  woman,  such  a 
woman  as  I  never  dreamed  existed,  and  she 
travels  without  men  of  her  kind.  They  say 
that  she  has  grown  to  womanhood  without 
ever  having  been  a  wife.  They  say  she  is 
rich.  You  know  it  has  not  been  long  since 
the  wife  of  our  tent  was  killed  by  falling 
from  a  mountain  pass.  She  was  yours  and 
mine."  Turning  to  the  Lama,  "We  im- 
plored the  gods  to  let  her  stay  with  us,"  he 
continued,  "for  she  was  a  woman  who  not 
only  served  well,  but  commanded  us,  and 
her  judgment  was  wise.  For  many  months 
no  woman  has  been  in  our  tent.  When  we 
stop  as  farmers  yonder  in  that  narrow  valley, 
we  may  be  compelled  to  live  in  the  houses 
there  without  a  woman,  and  now  while  we 
42 


FORDING   A  TIBETAN   R1VK11 

On  the  broader  streams  of  Tibet  the  rivers  may  be  forded  with  a  flat  bottom  boat  for  the 
travellers  while  yak  and  horses  must  swim.  Across  the  swift  flowing  rivers  reed  ropes  are 
stretched  and  they  must  be  crossed  hand  over  hand  or  in  baskets. 


ANOTHER  LAKE 
OF  BLUE 


Fourteen  thousand  feet  above  sea  level  —  fed  by  the  eternal  snow  —  is  this  beautiful  lake  of 
Dergre  one  of  the  most  picturesque  in  all  eastern  Tibet.  The  Kokonor  is  larger  but  not  more 
beautiful  where  Sylvia  Lambert  visited  the  Dragan  Colt  Lamasery. 


DO  THE  GODS  WILL  IT? 

are  thinking  of  choosing  another,  this  woman 
comes  out  of  the  East.  Strange  in  color  and 
strange  in  custom,  when  she  speaks  it  may 
be  hard  for  us  to  listen  as  the  Tibetan  man 
usually  does  to  the  Tibetan  woman,  but  she 
must  be  ours.  Then  there  is  her  wealth.  No 
woman  without  wealth  could  buy  camels  and 
horses  and  pay  the  prices  she  has  paid.  But 
there  are  dangers.  If  in  taking  her  we 
should  injure  or  kill  her,  you  know  what 
the  powers  that  lie  outside  of  Tibet  and 
China  may  do.  When  one  of  their  people 
dies  mysteriously  in  a  foreign  land,  they 
want  compensation,  so  we  must  be  careful." 
"I  thought  we  were  simply  to  keep  her 
from  going  to  Lhasa,"  Jli  Lama  spoke. 
"The  Dalai  Lama  has  decreed  that  no 
woman  or  foreigner  shall  enter  the  sacred 
confines  of  that  city.  Even  the  humblest 
tribesman  will  know  that  we  are  carrying 
out  the  will  of  the  great  Dalai  Lama  and  of 
Buddha  when  we  keep  her  from  entering 
the  sacred  city.  To  rob  her,  ah,  that  is  Lo- 
zong's  privilege,  to  kill  her,  that  is  the  exi- 
43 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

gency  of  the  chase,  but  to  take  a  woman 
from  a  strange  land  to  your  tent — have  the 
gods  willed  it?" 

Lozong  bowed  his  head  in  deep  thought 
for  a  moment  and  then  lifted  his  face  to  Ju 
Lama: 

"Who  knows  what  the  gods  will?  Is  it 
not  enough  to  say  that  Lozong  wills  it  and 
that  he  is  following  Buddha? 

"Shall  we  ride  to-night?"  asked  one  of  the 
attendants. 

"We  sleep  to-night.  There  is  no  haste. 
Any  passing  bird  will  tell  us  where  she  is, 
for  all  of  Tibet  is  whispering  that  she  has 
started,  and  when  the  hour  comes  we  can 
easily  find  her.  Other  travelers  have  thought 
that  because  they  concealed  themselves  in 
native  costume  they  went  unannounced  and 
unknown  across  Tibet,  but  Lozong  and  a 
thousand  other  men  always  know.  She 
journeys  to  the  Kokonor.  When  the  time 
comes  we  shall  find  her  and  it  will  not  be 
difficult.  The  winds  of  the  Kokonor  will  tell 
us  where  she  is.  Let  us  sleep." 
44 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  WATERS  OF  THE  SKY 

THE  journey  to  the  north  had  come  to  an 
end.  A  long  stretch  of  white  sand  and 
the  mountains  that  together  border  the 
waters  of  the  Kokonor  could  be  seen  in  the 
distance.  Sylvia  Lambert  had  sailed  on  the 
Mediterranean  and  had  seen  the  blue  lakes 
of  Switzerland  and  of  Canada,  but  now  she 
unconsciously  looked  into  the  heavens  as  if 
expecting  to  find  that  a  bit  of  the  sky  had 
fallen  from  its  place.  Reaching  far  beyond 
the  vision,  without  a  sail  on  its  surface,  lay 
this  wonderful  lake,  around  which  are  woven 
many  of  the  traditions  of  Mongolia  and 
Tibet.  Some  say  that  the  gods  opened  a 
passage  more  than  ten  thousand  feet  deep 
to  allow  the  waters  of  the  sea  to  rush  into 
the  valley  now  covered  by  the  lake.  Others 
have  said  that  on  the  wings  of  the  morning, 
45 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

borne  intact  in  a  great  vessel,  the  water  was 
dropped  on  the  golden  sands.  The  sight  was 
vastly  more  than  she  expected. 

The  little  caravan  suddenly  became  quiet 
and  stood  watching  Sylvia  Lambert,  whose 
eyes  were  filled  with  awe  as  she  silently  stood 
before  the  wonder  of  the  scene.  "She  wor- 
ships the  gods,"  they  said. 

"It  is  but  one  God  that  she  worships,"  said 
the  Chinese  woman.  "She  is  thanking  Him 
for  this  lake." 

Here  beside  the  lake  on  a  slope  of  sand 
they  must  camp  for  the  night.  The  sun  was 
late  in  setting,  and  in  the  deepening  northern 
light  Sylvia  Lambert  watched  the  shadows 
advance  and  recede  over  the  surface  of  the 
lake.  The  desert  touched  it  on  one  side  and 
the  mountains  on  the  other.  It  was  the  sea- 
son of  the  year  when  herders  brought  their 
flocks  to  its  shores,  and  all  through  the  night 
she  heard  the  bleating  of  sheep.  Above  these 
pastoral  sounds  a  bird  called  out  over  the 
lake,  and  from  still  farther  away  came  the 
bark  of  a  wild  animal.  She  realized  that 
46 


THE  WATERS  OF  THE  SKY 

here  life,  human  as  well  as  animal,  was  un- 
tamed, and  she  went  to  her  rest  praying  to 
the  Christ  for  direction  and  for  protection. 

Being  loath  to  leave  the  beautiful  lake  she 
did  not  order  the  caravan  to  move  for  sev- 
eral days.  At  once  she  became  interested  in 
the  island  which  the  natives  called  "Dragon 
Colts'  Island"  which  was  in  plain  view  and 
on  which  was  a  picturesque  monastery.  She 
longed  to  explore  it.  There  were  no  native 
boats  on  Kokonor,  but  in  the  equipment 
brought  with  her  across  China  was  a  col- 
lapsible canoe.  The  Chinese  woman  pro- 
tested, however,  when  she  spoke  of  her  in- 
tention to  visit  the  island,  saying  that  the 
Lamas  and  the  people  would  not  permit  it. 

"It  is  against  tradition  to  go  there,"  she 
said,  "because  the  gods  have  decreed  that  no 
boat  shall  sail  upon  the  lake." 

Sylvia  Lambert  was  careful  not  to  ridicule 
the  customs  of  the  people. 

"But  I  am  only  going  on  a  trip  of  investi- 
gation," she  said.  "If  people  can  journey 
47 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

there  when  the  ice  is  on  the  lake,  why  cannot 
I  go  there  now?" 

"That  is  surely  true,"  said  Bao  Lama. 

The  trip  was  undertaken  when  there  was 
no  wind.  With  the  stroke  of  an  expert, 
Sylvia  Lambert  sped  across  the  sky-blue 
waters  to  the  island.  Tradition  said  that  it 
had  direct  connection  with  Lhasa  through  an 
underground  passage.  Others  said  that  a 
great  bird  dropped  it  into  the  lake  when  the 
country  was  in  danger  of  being  submerged. 
Still  others  said  that  in  winter  thousands  of 
wild  mares  were  turned  loose  and  that  the 
colts  of  dragons  were  there.  Strangest  of 
all  it  was  related  that  in  the  monastery  were 
paintings  interpretive  of  the  home  life  of  the 
gods.  It  was  these  that  she  most  desired  to 
see. 

As  she  approached  the  island  a  group  of 
men  stood  out  on  the  promontory  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  temple,  every  one  a  Lama. 
They  wondered  at  the  daring  of  anyone  who 
would  undertake  to  cross  to  the  island,  and 
48 


THE  WATERS  OF  THE  SKY 

when  she  stood  up  and  they  saw  it  was  a 
woman,  they  asked,  "What  means  this?" 

Adroitly  she  brought  the  little  canoe  close 
to  the  rock  that  jutted  out  from  the  lama- 
sery. 

"I  come  with  a  message  not  from  Buddha, 
she  said,  "but,  to  you  who  are  messengers  of 
Buddha,  from  the  one  known  God." 

The  old  abbot  looked  upon  her  for  a  mo- 
ment and  then  said  to  the  Lamas  about  him. 

"No  harm  can  come  from  receiving  her, 
for  Buddha  himself  once  came  as  a  stranger. 
Who  knows  what  message  she  may  bring?" 

As  she  sat  alone  with  the  priests  in  the 
temple  she  thought  of  the  desire  she  had  so 
often  expressed  for  adventure,  and  realized 
that  it  was  now  being  fulfilled.  The  Lamas 
conducted  her  to  the  paintings  on  the  walls 
when  she  intimated  that  she  wanted  to  see 
them.  She,  who  had  made  a  comprehensive 
study  of  art,  marvelled  at  the  longing,  the 
daring,  and  at  times  at  the  obscenity,  that 
was  there  pictured. 

In  order  to  reach  the  camp  before  dark 
49 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

she  left  the  monastery  quite  early,  saying 
that  she  would  come  again. 

"You  have  come  once,"  said  the  old  abbot, 
"and  we  have  welcomed  a  stranger.  Per- 
haps Buddha  is  not  displeased  with  a  single 
Doming,  but  you  must  not  come  again." 

Upon  reaching  the  camp  she  found  that 
the  people  with  whom  she  had  traveled  to 
the  north  were  anxious  to  continue  their 
journey;  so  the  next  morning,  with  what 
would  have  seemed  an  inexpressive  farewell 
to  people  of  the  Occident,  but  which  was  suf- 
ficiently expressive  for  people  of  the  Orient, 
they  parted. 

The  remaining  days  of  her  sojourn  at  the 
lake  were  occupied  with  the  search  for 
guides.  Finally  two  old  men  were  procured. 
Boots  like  those  which  are  worn  in  that 
strange  country,  and  which  meant  more  than 
money  to  them,  were  offered  them  and  one 
said  he  would  guide  the  caravan  for  three 
days — but  to  Lhasa,  never. 

"Many  have  gone  to  Lhasa,  but,  ah,  the 
dangers!"  he  said. 

50 


THE  WATERS  OF  THE  SKY 

And  then,  after  the  manner  of  old  men, 
no  matter  what  the  race  or  tribe,  he  advised 
her  to  turn  back.  "The  road  is  open  to 
Lusar  and  to  Peking,"  he  went  on.  "But 
even  for  the  Tibetan  and  for  the  eagle  the 
road  to  Lhasa  is  hard.  A  few  days  we  will 
journey  and  then  we  shall  see." 

The  next  morning  camp  was  broken  and 
the  journey  towards  Lhasa  begun. 


51 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  HAND  OF  POWEB 

GOING  west  from  Kokonor  the  little 
caravan  rode  through  a  margin  of  low 
hills  of  sandstone,  from  which  at  intervals 
small  streams  ran  down  into  the  lake.  They 
came  to  a  valley  five  or  six  miles  wide 
through  which  flowed  the  wild  Yak  River. 
At  that  season  of  the  year  the  river  was  not 
very  wide  and  could  be  crossed  with  little 
difficulty.  The  mountains,  rising  fifteen 
hundred  feet,  were  covered  with  stunted 
cedar  and  juniper  trees.  They  were  travel- 
ing in  the  direction  of  the  capital,  Dulan 
Kuo.  The  animals  were  feeling  the  weight 
of  their  burdens,  for  the  road  was  hard,  but 
pushed  steadily  on.  At  dusk  they  came  to 
a  sheltered  place  by  the  river,  where  they 
camped  for  the  night. 

A  dread  hung  over  the  woman  who  was 
52 


THE  HAND  OF  POWER 

daring  so  much.  Vague  fears  oppressed  her. 
What  would  be  her  fate?  Would  she  ever 
reach  Lhasa?  What  dangers  were  coming 
upon  her  out  of  the  night?  The  old  man 
guiding  them  to  Dulan  Kuo  had  said  to  her 
at  noon,  "You  should  have  turned  back." 

She  had  just  closed  her  eyes  in  slumber 
when  she  was  aroused  by  the  sound  of  the 
animals  moving  about  and  then  the  cry  of 
one  of  her  men.  In  the  confusion  that  fol- 
lowed she  heard  a  voice  that  made  her  heart 
stand  still,  for  in  that  strange  mixture  of 
language  of  the  east  and  west  the  voice  of 
Lozong  could  be  easily  recognized.  Her 
men  cried  out  that  it  was  a  foreign  caravan 
and  they  should  be  treated  as  guests  but  the 
voice  in  the  darkness  repeated,  "You  have 
desecrated  the  Lake  of  Blue  and  for  that  the 
gods  demand  you  should  pay." 

"Kill  when  it  is  necessary,"  was  the  com- 
mand. "Save  yourselves.  Hurt  not  the 
women,  but  capture  them." 

One  of  the  men  of  her  caravan  had  also 
recognized  Lozong's  voice,  and  swore  ven- 
53 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

geance  against  him.  Underneath  the  fold 
of  the  tent,  which  was  inky  in  its  darkness, 
came  a  flash.  There  was  a  smothered  excla- 
mation and  the  sound  of  a  fall.  At  the  first 
Sylvia  was  too  terrified  to  move,  believing 
they  came  only  to  rob.  With  the  report  of 
the  gun  she  was  all  awake  and  desperate. 
Moving  rapidly  to  the  edge  of  the  tent  she 
rolled  under  its  sides  and,  raising  herself  to 
her  feet,  started  to  run.  She  had  gone  but 
a  few  feet  when  strong  arms  encircled  her. 
She  fought  with  every  ounce  of  strength  but 
was  soon  borne  to  the  ground.  A  band  was 
drawn  about  her  head  so  she  could  not  cry 
out,  and  she  heard  a  voice  in  the  darkness 
say,  "I  have  her." 

There  were  long  minutes  of  the  utmost 
confusion  during  which  she  could  hear  the 
resistance  of  her  men,  who  she  had  not  ima- 
gined would  risk  so  much  to  defend  her. 
Now  and  then  there  was  the  flash  of  a  gun  or 
a  revolver,  followed  by  a  cry,  a  groan  and  a 
gasp.  She  felt  herself  bound  hands  and 
feet,  thrown  on  a  pony  and  tied  fast  so  that 
54 


THE  HAND  OF  POWER 

she  could  not  move,  and  hurried  away.  The 
men  were  talking  about  someone  who  had 
been  wounded.  Not  hearing  again  the  voice 
of  Lozong,  she  wondered  where  he  could  be. 
The  hatred  in  her  soul  surprised  her. 

After  they  had  ridden  for  what  seemed 
to  her  a  considerable  period  of  time  a  camp 
was  made,  and  a  horse  came  out  of  the  dark- 
ness bearing  a  drooping  and  apparently  life- 
less figure.  They  laid  him  beside  the  fire 
that  had  been  started.  It  was  Lozong.  As 
he  lay  stretched  out  beside  the  fire  she  could 
but  admire  his  physique. 

One  of  the  younger  brothers  spoke  to  her. 

"It  is  said  that  you  know  how  to  treat  the 
wounded,  that  in  Lusar  you  cared  for  a 
woman  who  was  hurt  while  resisting  robbers. 
Our  brother  and  our  chief  is  injured.  Heal 
him  and  you  will  be  rewarded." 

By  the  flickering  camp-fire,  a  captive  in 
that  far  country  at  the  top  of  the  world, 
Sylvia  Lambert  looked  at  the  man  with 
scorn. 

"I  will  help  him  not  because  of  what  may 
55 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

come  later,  but  because  he  is  injured,  as  of 
course  I  would  help  anyone  who  needed  help 
no  matter  what  he  had  done  to  me,"  she  rea- 
soned with  herself. 

Lozong  was  injured  both  in  the  head  and 
shoulder. 

When  they  bared  his  shoulder  she  found 
that  it  was  a  serious  wound.  Her  medicines, 
with  the  exception  of  those  carried  in  a  little 
bag  at  her  side,  had  been  scattered.  They 
brought  up  some  of  the  things  that  had  been 
captured  from  her  tent  and  among  them  she 
found  her  bandages.  After  heating  water 
in  a  crude  basin  the  wound  was  cleansed  and 
dressed,  then  she  was  allowed  to  rest.  Her 
Chinese  woman  was  released  from  some- 
where out  in  the  darkness  and  crept  close  to 
Sylvia,  and  soon  they  let  themselves  relax 
in  sleep. 

When  morning  came  Lozong,  it  seemed, 
had  not  returned  to  consciousness,  and  while 
re-dressing  his  wound  and  touching  his 
strong,  sinewy  body,  she  looked  upon  the 
face  that  had  now  lost  its  smile,  and  pitied 

56 


THE  HAND  OF  POWER 

him.  She  found  herself  forming  a  mental 
image  of  this  splendid  animal  had  he  been 
educated  and  trained  to  move  in  the  courts  of 
men.  Slowly  he  opened  his  eyes  and  for  a 
long  time  gazed  steadily  at  her. 

"Ah,"  he  said  at  last,  "the  hand  of  one  of 
your  followers  has  wounded  me." 

"Yes,  that  is  so,"  she  answered,  "and  it  is 
a  serious  wound." 

"Ah,  what  matters  it?  If  this  is  the  end, 
let  it  come.  Whatever  the  gods  will  must 
be." 

She  made  no  reply  but  continued  her  work 
of  ministration.  There  was  no  wincing  un- 
der the  pain.  Once  he  seemed  to  lose  con- 
sciousness again  for  a  moment,  and  then, 
opening  his  eyes,  looked  into  her  face. 

"Strange,  indeed,  are  your  ways,"  he  said* 
"I  have  destroyed  your  camp — you  are  my 
prisoner,  yet  you  minister  to  me.  Sometime 
when  the  heel  might  be  heavy,  it  will  be 
lightened  because  you  have  helped." 

Jii  Lama  turned  his  prayer  wheel ;  and  the 
lips  of  Lozong,  scarcely  moving,  murmured, 
57 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

"Om  mani  padme  hum."  Bao  Lama,  who 
had  been  with  her,  and  the  soldiers  and  her 
attendants  had  all  been  killed  or  had  fled  in 
the  night  and  she  never  saw  them  again. 

During  the  day  following  the  capture  the 
Tibetan  chieftain  was  much  of  the  time  un- 
conscious. In  his  delirium  he  often  repeated 
his  avowal  that  this  foreign  woman  should 
not  go  to  Lhasa. 

They  were  camped  close  beside  a  stream,  a 
tributary  of  the  Yak.  It  seemed  to  Sylvia 
Lambert  that  they  were  at  one  of  the  far- 
thest reaches  of  the  world.  A  black  tent, 
smaller  than  those  which  usually  sheltered 
the  nomadic  tribes,  protected  them  from  the 
winds.  As  night  approached  the  moun- 
tains, rearing  high  about  her,  the  wonderful 
blue  of  the  heavens,  and  the  silence,  broken 
only  by  the  cry  of  the  wild,  drew  her 
thoughts  away  from  herself  to  the  immense 
majesty  of  earth  forms  and  the  wide  seren- 
ity of  the  heavens.  Sitting  at  the  door  of 
the  tent  and  looking  out  over  the  shadowy 
trees  and  mountains  she  understood  why 

58 


THE  HAND  OF  POWER 

these  people  were  so  inherently  devout  even 
though  they  knew  nothing  at  all  of  what  to 
her  was  the  true  religion. 

The  sick  chieftain  was  still  unconscious. 
Jii  Lama  and  the  brothers  were  praying  near 
him. 

"Lozong  must  not  die,"  they  murmured. 
Every  remedy  they  knew  had  been  given 
him.  The  brother  next  to  Lozong  in  rank 
came  to  her  and  asked: 

"Is  there  not  something  more  that  you  can 
do  for  our  brother?" 

"I  have  done  all  I  know.  Only  a  foreign 
physician  can  help  him  now,"  she  answered. 
"Is  there  not  one  near?" 

The  last  missionary  doctor  they  had  seen 
in  China,  just  before  entering  Tibet,  was 
now  many  days  to  the  east,  and  she  knew 
that  in  his  condition  Lozong  could  not  be 
carried  so  far  nor  could  he  live  long  enough 
to  receive  help  from  there. 

To  her  question  as  to  whether  a  foreign 
doctor  could  be  reached,  "Oh,  yes,"  the 
brother  answered,  "Have  you  traveled  in 
59 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

Tibet  and  not  heard  of  his  fame  ?  His  skin  is 
white  like  yours  and  he  came  from  your 
country.  He  is  a  big  man,  bigger  than  Lo- 
zong,  and  his  eyes  are  a  wonderful  blue. 
Ah,  the  sky  itself  is  not  so  blue.  They  are 
like  the  Kokonor." 

The  stoical  expression  left  his  face  for  a 
moment,  and  he  smiled. 

"Ah,  that  you  could  hear  him  laugh!  I 
have  pretended  to  be  sick  and  have  gone  to 
his  hospital  just  to  hear  him  laugh.  The 
Governor  of  the  Province  sometimes  pre- 
tends sickness  that  this  big  foreigner  may 
come  and  laugh  in  his  presence." 

"How  far  away  is  he?" 

"Two  days  to  the  south  and  one  to  the 
west.  Turn  your  back  to  the  star  yonder 
in  the  north,  travel  two  days  directly  against 
it,  and  then  turn  to  the  right  hand  for  a  day's 
march,  and  in  the  eventide  you  will  come  to 
him." 

"Why  do  you  not  send  for  him?"  she 
queried. 

"Ah,  we  cannot  as  long  as  you  are  in  our 
60 


THE  HAND  OF  POWER 

tent.  Lozong  himself  has  said  that  never 
must  the  doctor  know  that  you  are  here  or 
the  blue  of  his  eye  will  turn  to  the  color  of 
musket  steel  and  his  laughter  will  sound 
louder  than  the  thunder's  roar." 

Sylvia  Lambert  asked  no  more  questions. 

"We  must  rest,"  she  said. 

Once  in  the  tent  she  spoke  quietly  to  her 
woman  in  Chinese. 

"Two  days  to  the  south  and  one  to  the 
west  is  a  white  man.  To-night  we  shall  seek 
him." 

The  Chinese  woman  shuddered. 

"Do  you  not  hear  the  cries  of  wild  ani- 
mals? Are  you  not  afraid  to  go?" 

"Would  not  the  animals  that  cannot  talk 
and  that  move  not  with  the  passions  of  men 
be  better  companions  than  these?" 

They  waited  until  the  occupants  of  the 
tent  were  asleep,  then  rose  quietly  to  slip 
away.  For  a  moment  she  stood  beside  the 
unconscious  chieftain,  and  breathed  a  prayer 
that  he  might  not  die,  though  in  her  heart 
she  hoped  that  she  would  never  see  him 
61 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

again.  Then  with  her  Chinese  companion 
she  crept  out  into  the  night.  They  had 
hidden  enough  tea  and  tsamba  about  them  to 
last  three  days.  One  of  the  sleeping  men 
stirred  slightly  as  a  stone  turned  under  their 
feet,  but  they  moved  on  without  further 
disturbing  the  sleepers. 

Sylvia  Lambert  scanned  the  heavens  until 
her  eye  caught  the  star  that  every  traveler 
seeks,  and  then  whispered  softly: 

"Two  days  with  your  back  to  the  star  of 
the  north  and  one  day  following  the  right 
hand,  and  you  will  find  a  man  with  a  face 
like  yours  and  a  laugh  that  men  travel  days 
to  hear." 


62 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  REAL  PIONEER 

QHORTLY  before  Sylvia  Lambert  de- 
^  cided  to  go  to  Lhasa  a  young  man 
who  had  been  reared  in  the  western  part  of 
America,  graduated  from  a  medical  school. 
John  Raymond  was  a  typical  self-made  man. 
He  had  worked  on  the  plains  and  had 
climbed  the  mountains,  and  had  experienced 
hunger.  Fighting  the  battle  of  existence 
itself  he  never  lost  the  ideals  which  his  mother 
had  inspired  in  him  to  use  his  best  talents 
for  his  self-advancement.  He  had  envied 
the  country  doctor  in  that  western  state  who 
rode  far  and  continually  to  minister  to  the 
needs  of  the  people  of  the  plains  and  the 
mountains.  He  had  often  talked  with  this 
good  doctor,  who  always  urged  him  to  pre- 
pare himself  for  a  useful  service.  He  went 
63 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

to  school  in  the  winter  and  studied  and 
worked  while  others  loitered. 

In  the  little  town  in  which  he  lived  he 
followed  the  simple  religion  of  his  mother, 
and  carried  her  Christian  training  through- 
out his  college  course.  One  day  he  heard 
a  woman  tell  the  students  the  story  of  an 
attempted  entrance  into  Tibet,  and  of  how 
much  the  people  in  that  land  needed  the 
gospel  of  Christ. 

John  Raymond  understood  the  language 
of  need.  His  colleagues  in  the  medical 
school  were  looking  for  locations,  but  here 
was  a  land  of  thousands  of  people  without 
a  doctor,  where  disease  was  rife  and  where 
they  did  not  understand  even  the  simplest 
methods  of  healing. 

John  Raymond  volunteered  to  go  to  Tibet 
as  a  missionary  doctor.  He  was  unmarried, 
in  fact,  he  did  not  know  a  great  deal  about 
women.  He  had  never  chummed  with  girls 
as  did  the  other  college  boys,  for  his  time 
had  been  given  entirely  to  study  and  to  the 
battle  of  providing  for  himself. 
64 


THE  REAL  PIONEER 

He  went  directly  to  the  little  Tibetan 
town  nestled  in  the  mountains  and  bought 
a  flat-roofed  house  of  two  stories  and  there 
began  his  work.  At  first  the  Lamas  and  the 
people  opposed  him,  but  the  need  of  his  min- 
istry grew  with  every  passing  day — for  it 
was  a  twenty-five  days'  journey  to  the  near- 
est doctor  out  on  the  plains  of  China — and 
they  soon  forgot  their  animosity* 

Plain  in  his  tastes,  simple  in  his  expression 
of  religion,  fearless  in  his  manhood,  and  a 
worker  who  seemed  never  to  know  fatigue, 
he  made  an  ideal  pioneer.  Every  robber 
chief  in  eastern  Tibet  knew  him  and  admired 
him.  At  first  Lozong  had  opposed  him,  but 
one  day  the  keen  edge  of  an  enemy's  knife 
slipped  across  an  artery  and  down  into  the 
joints  of  a  bone,  and  Lozong  had  been  saved 
only  by  the  most  heroic  surgery  and  skill, 
which  the  doctors  at  home  would  have  called 
spectacular.  When  the  doctor  learned  who 
he  was,  he  condemned  his  actions.  They 
were  friends  at  heart,  each  in  the  knowledge 
65 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

of  the  other's  power  and  strength,  but  ene- 
mies in  every  social  relationship. 

The  Tibetans  looked  upon  the  doctor  as 
almost  a  god.  His  medicines  were  famed, 
but  better  known  was  the  Celtic  laugh  with 
which  he  captivated  those  who  came  to  know 
him. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  one  of  his  daily  dis- 
pensaries, to  which  people  came  with  sore 
legs,  smallpox,  broken  arms  and  diseased 
eyes,  that  a  soldier  connected  with  the  Chi- 
nese official  who  was  supposed  to  preside 
over  the  district,  came  to  him  as  he  stood 
over  one  of  his  patients. 

"Have  you  heard  that  Lozong  has  been 
shot?"  he  asked. 

"No,"  answered  John  Raymond,  turning 
instantly,  for  he  had  hoped  that  some  day 
he  could  win  Lozong  from  the  life  he  lived. 
"Why  was  he  shot?" 

"A  white  woman,  a  woman  of  your  coun- 
try, was  journeying  alone  to  Lhasa.  He 
and  his  band  robbed  her  caravan  and  one 
of  her  attendants  shot  him.  The  caravan 

66 


THE  REAL  PIONEER 

was  captured  and  all  of  her  attendants,  save 
a  single  Chinese  woman,  were  killed  or 
escaped.  Rumor  says  that  since  then  she 
has  been  ministering  to  Lozong  in  his  tent." 

John  Raymond's  face  grew  serious,  and, 
as  Lozong  had  said,  his  eyes  turned  to  the 
color  of  gun  steel.  Almost  unconsciously 
he  reached  for  the  wash  basin  and  cleansed 
his  hands.  He  called  for  his  horseman. 

"Where  are  they?"  he  inquired,  as  he 
turned  to  the  soldier. 

"A  day  to  the  east  and  two  days  and  a 
little  more  to  the  north,  somewhere  near  the 
beginnings  of  the  Yellow  River." 

When  the  horseman  came  the  doctor's  di- 
rections were  simple. 

"Take  a  pack  horse  with  as  much  simple 
food  as  you  can  carry,  for  we  will  be  gone 
nine  or  ten  days.  You  and  I  ride  alone." 

The  soldier  waited  until  John  Raymond 
was  mounted.  His  instructions  to  his  assist- 
ants were  simple. 

"Carry  on  the  work,"  he  said. 
67 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

As  he  rode  out  the  soldier  remarked: 
"Ah,  it  is  truly  the  bird  that  flies  which  he 
seeks,  the  eagle  that  travels  only  the  moun- 
tain heights." 


68 


CHAPTER  VII 

ALONE 

SYLVIA  LAMBERT  and  her  Chinese 
companion  traveled  as  swiftly  as  they 
could,  under  cover  of  darkness,  and  when 
the  light  of  day  approached  they  hid  away 
in  the  mountain  recesses  close  by  the  side  of 
a  little  stream,  under  a  great  sheltering  rock. 
They  lay  hidden  all  day,  and  once  they 
thought  they  heard  voices  and  a  shot. 

On  the  second  night  Sylvia  found  the  road 
difficult.  It  was  raining  hard  and  steadily. 
Every  bone  in  her  body  ached,  and  her  eyes 
pained  her  so  that  she  felt  it  almost  impos- 
sible to  go  on.  The  path  was  so  narrow, 
the  going  was  so  difficult,  that  she  wondered 
why  she  had  ever  attempted  to  escape,  but 
the  word  of  the  man  in  the  tent  haunted  her. 
"Two  days  to  the  south  and  one  to  the  west 
is  a  white  man."  As  she  staggered  on,  fol- 
69 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

lowing  the  Chinese  woman  who  was  now 
leading  the  way  and  who  showed  a  marvel- 
ous courage,  she  wondered  if  that  was  to  be 
the  end.  No  one  would  know.  The  only 
thing  that  her  friends  would  ever  hear  would 
be  that  she  had  disappeared  a  day  or  two 
after  leaving  the  Kokonor,  for  she  had  sent 
letters  back  from  the  Kokonor  which  would 
no  doubt  reach  them.  They  had  been  travel- 
ing half  of  the  night  when  they  came  to  a  val- 
ley in  which  were  some  deserted  buildings, 
the  ruins  of  an  old  lamasery.  Sylvia  could  go 
no  farther.  She  who  had  urged  others  to 
push  on  had  to  stop  because  her  body  re- 
fused to  answer  to  the  driving  cry  of  her 
heart.  They  crept  into  the  ruins  wondering 
what  awaited  them.  Something  slunk  out 
into  the  night,  but  they  had  lost  their  fear 
of  animals.  The  Chinese  woman  took  some 
of  her  own  clothing  to  make  a  bed  for  Sylvia, 
who  was  now  conscious  of  a  violent  fever  and 
that  her  temperature  was  steadily  rising. 
The  Chinese  woman  became  frantic. 
70 


ALONE 

"What  does  it  mean,"  she  asked.  "Why  is 
it  that  she  is  ill?" 

All  the  next  day  the  fever  raged.  She 
took  some  of  her  remedies  but  grew  steadily 
worse.  As  night  approached  the  Chinese 
woman  decided  that  her  mistress  must  have 
help  and  told  her  that  she  was  going  for  a 
doctor.  Slipping  out  from  the  walls  of  the 
ruins,  and  down  into  the  valley,  she  found 
a  black  tent  that  was  pitched  besides  a 
stream,  where  a  band  of  nomads  watched 
their  flocks  She  told  them  that  her  com- 
panion, another  Chinese  woman,  was  ill. 
Even  her  slow  mind  reasoned  that  infor- 
mation about  the  white  woman  would  travel 
on  the  winds  and  put  them  again  in  danger 
of  capture  by  Lozong's  band. 

"Ah,  how  fortunate  it  is  that  we  have  in 
our  tent  a  famed  Lama  who  knows  healing," 
they  said.  "He  will  go  with  you." 

These   people   believed  in  this   Tibetan 

Lama  though  he  had  studied  in  Lhasa  for 

only  two  brief  months,  for  he  carried  with 

him  a  flask  containing  a  remedy  in  which 

71 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

certain  Tibetans  had  great  faith,  a  flask  of 
elephant's  milk,  and  he  knew  how  to  heal  by 
charms,  tsamba  images,  the  beating  of  drums 
and  all  the  mysterious  methods  of  prayer. 

When  he  came  to  the  crude  bed  where  the 
sick  woman  lay,  the  Chinese  woman  tried 
to  cover  the  white  face  as  much  as  possible. 
He  asked  where  the  pain  was  located,  and 
when  told  that  it  was  a  fever,  he  became 
exultant. 

"Ah,"  he  said,  "I  can  cure  her,  for  if  that 
which  I  have  here  does  not  help,  I  can  heat  a 
knife  blade  and  put  it  on  her  spine  and  into 
the  flesh,  and  that  will  surely  let  out  the 
fever." 

He  looked  at  the  hand  of  his  patient  and 
then  at  her  neck. 

"Her  skin  is  strange,  from  what  part  of 
China  does  this  woman  come?"  he  asked  the 
woman. 

She  was  now  more  anxious  than  ever  to 
conceal  her  mistress's  identity,  so  she  claimed 
that  the  sick  one  was  her  sister  from  near 
the  northern  coast  of  China. 
72 


ALONE 

This  Lama  remained  with  them  for  sev- 
eral hours,  continually  prophesying  that  the 
fever  would  subside,  but  the  patient  was  no 
better  when  he  finally  left  them  to  return  to 
the  tent  of  the  nomads. 

Looking  from  the  door  of  the  ruined  lam- 
asery, the  Chinese  woman  saw  a  Tibetan 
measuring  his  length  on  the  road.  He  was 
dressed  with  a  leather  apron  and  had  wooden 
mittens  on  his  hands.  He  was  a  religious 
pilgrim  traveling  in  this  way  to  Lhasa,  for  he 
believed  that  blessing  would  come  to  him  if 
he  would  repeatedly  prostrate  himself  in  the 
dust.  It  would  require  many  months  to 
reach  Lhasa  in  this  way,  but  Buddha  would 
then  give  him  a  place  of  eternal  peace. 

Hoping  that  she  might  enlist  his  help,  the 
Chinese  woman  called  to  him  as  he  lay  pros- 
trated on  the  road,  and  told  him  that  her  sis- 
ter was  sick  and  probably  dying. 

"I  have  had  the  healing  Lama  from  the 
tent  yonder,  but  he  has  not  helped  her. 
There  is  a  foreigner  about  a  day  and  a  half 
73 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

away  who  I  am  sure  could  save  her.    Have 
you  heard  of  him?" 

"Ah,"  answered  the  pilgrim,  turning  his 
face  towards  Lhasa,  "Who  has  not  heard  of 
him?  He  preaches  of  a  strange  god,  but  the 
gentleness  of  his  hand  and  the  miracle  of  his 
healing  are  known  to  everyone  in  Eastern 
Tibet." 

"Won't  you  go  to  him  and  bring  him 
here,"  implored  the  woman. 

"If  I  should  go  it  would  take  me  off  the 
road  to  Lhasa,"  he  replied. 

"Think  of  the  blessing  that  would  come  to 
you?  I  am  sure  that  Buddha  would  approve 
of  your  doing  this  act  of  mercy.  'Mercy, 
Mercy,'  is  the  prayer  of  our  priests  in  China 
and  so  it  is  in  Thibet.  Then  will  you  not  go? 
For  I  will  pav  you  with  silver  and  Buddha 
will  surely  give  you  a  reward." 

"Yes,  I  will  go  and  bring  him.  I  will  tell 
him  that  a  Chinese  woman  is  sick." 

"Aye,  tell  him  more  than  that.  Tell  him 
that  a  woman  with  a  skin  like  his  own  is  ill," 
she  replied. 

74 


ALONE 

After  again  prostrating  himself  at  full 
length  in  the  dust  the  Tibetan,  clad  in  the 
coarsest  of  clothes,  carrying  nothing  but  a 
little  sack  thrown  on  the  end  of  a  stick  over 
his  shoulder,  started  on  his  j  ourney  in  search 
of  the  doctor. 

"I  will  go  and  bring  him,"  he  said,  "I  will 
tell  him  that  in  this  valley  there  is  one  with 
a  skin  like  his  own,  and  a  Chinese  woman 
who  worships  Buddha,  and  that  the  one  of 
his  kind  is  ill  unto  death  and  that  he  must 
come." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

"l  WILL  FIND  HIM" 

A  DAY  to  the  east  and  two  days  to  the 
north  meant  only  a  day  and  a  half  to 
John  Raymond,  for  he  rode  hard  and  fast. 
Darkness  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  trail 
held  no  terrors  for  him.  As  a  boy  he  had 
slept  under  the  stars  on  the  plains  and 
among  the  mountains,  and  here  in  this  far 
country  he  was  not  unused  to  doing  the  same 
thing.  He  rode  so  hard  and  fast  that  his 
horseman  was  left  behind.  He  had  been  rid- 
ing several  hours  when  he  noticed  a  pilgrim 
prostrating  himself  on  the  road.  This  had 
become  a  familiar  sight,  for  he  had  passed 
several  of  them  during  the  morning.  When 
the  man  arose  he  looked  long  and  steadily 
at  the  horseman  who  was  riding  more  rapidly 
than  the  average  traveler.  Only  the  carrier 
of  imperial  messages  rode  so  fast,  but  this 

76 


"I  WILL  FIND  HIM" 

was  no  imperial  messenger  for  no  bells  were 
hung  at  his  horse's  head  or  saddle.  Finally 
convinced  that  this  was  the  doctor  he  ran 
up  to  him.  "Over  the  mountain  yonder  there 
are  two  women,"  he  said :  "One  Chinese  and 
one  who  they  say  has  skin  that  is  white,"  and 
he  pointed  in  the  opposite  direction  from 
that  towards  which  the  doctor  was  traveling. 
"They  are  in  a  ruined  lamasery  down  in  the 
valley  where  your  fame  is  great." 

Doctor  Raymond  looked  searchingly  at 
the  man  wondering  if  he  were  telling  the 
truth.  People  all  along  the  road  had  im- 
plored him  to  stop  and  turn  into  their  tents, 
and  he  took  this  as  the  usual  invitation.  He 
wondered  whether  this  woman  could  be  the 
one  whom  he  sought,  but  his  answer  was 
direct  and  emphatic. 

"No,  she  is  in  the  tent  of  Lozong,  and 
when  anyone  comes  under  that  hard  hand, 
there  is  no  chance  of  escape.  She  must  still 
be  in  his  tent." 

"Ah,  I  know,"  he  said  to  himself  exult- 
ingly,  "they  are  trying  to  lure  me  from  the 
77 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

trail,  for  the  winds  of  the  mountains  have 
told  Lozong  that  I  am  going  to  her  and  he 
is  trying  to  ensnare  me  from  the  path."  His 
face  was  hard. 

"I  will  find  Lozong,"  he  decided,  and,  with 
an  abruptness  that  was  unusual,  left  the 
Tibetan  standing  in  the  road. 

"I  will  find  Lozong,"  he  again  said  as  he 
rode  on,  "no  matter  where  he  may  be  in  these 
hills.  Someone  whom  I  have  helped  or 
someone  who  fears  him  will  tell  me  where  he 


is." 


Towards  evening  he  came  to  a  group  of 
tents  and  was  hailed  by  an  old  man  and 
woman  who  came  out  when  they  heard  that 
the  foreign  doctor  was  passing. 

"Ah,"  they  said,  prostrating  themselves 
before  him,  "long  we  have  waited  to  meet 
you,  for  our  only  son  was  cured  by  your 
ministrations  and  we  owe  you  a  debt  that 
no  man  can  pay." 

Raymond  recognized  the  son  as  a  young 
man  who  had  been  in  his  hospital  some 
months  before  suffering  from  a  tumor. 


"I  WILL  FIND  HIM" 

They  wanted  to  know  where  the  doctor 
was  going. 

"Oh,  over  the  hills  to  treat  a  patient,"  he 
answered.  But  a  little  later  when  they  sat 
alone  he  said: 

"My  friends,  you  have  said  that  you  want 
to  repay  me.  There  is  one  way  you  can  do 
so,  and  I  shall  then  be  in  your  debt  rather 
than  you  in  mine." 

"You  need  not  ask  it,"  answered  the  son 
at  once.  "We  know  that  you  seek  the  tent  of 
Lozong.  When  I  left  your  hospital  I  swore 
to  you  that  if  I  could  ever  serve  you  I  would, 
and  I  thank  Buddha  that  the  hour  has  come 
when  I  can  do  it.  Sleep  for  an  hour  or  two 
and  then  I  will  take  you  to  the  path  where 
at  daylight  you  can  stalk  into  the  tent  of 
Lozong." 

John  Raymond  rested  for  a  while  until  a 
gentle  hand  was  placed  on  his  shoulder.  It 
was  the  son  of  the  tent  who  had  come  to 
awaken  him.  Quietly  stealing  out  they  rode 
by  a  narrow  path  across  the  mountains,  and 
at  times  found  their  way  over  what  seemed 
79 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

a  trackless  waste.  In  the  early  morning  they 
came  to  a  narrow  gorge  through  which 
flowed  a  swift  stream.  They  were  forced  to 
dismount.  The  horse  swam  the  stream  with 
great  difficulty,  and  the  men  crossed  hand 
over  hand  on  the  great  reed  rope  that  was 
stretched  across  the  chasm  for  this  purpose. 
After  they  had  crossed  his  guide  stood  close 
to  him  motioning  with  his  head. 

"Yonder  in  the  distance,  just  on  the  rise  of 
the  hill,  do  you  see  a  tent?  Ride  there  and 
you  will  find  Lozong.  Rumor  has  it  that 
there  is  a  white  woman  in  his  tent." 

The  doctor  looked  long  into  the  face  of 
his  guide,  and  then  lifting  his  hands  palms 
up,  Tibetan  fashion,  said: 

"I  shall  always  be  grateful.  Any  time 
that  you  or  yours  are  ill,  send  word  to  the 
little  hospital  beside  the  Dretchu  and  I  will 
come  to  you." 

"Shall  I  not  go  with  you  to  the  tent?" 

"No,"  said  the  doctor,  "Why  should  the 
curse  of  Lozong  be  forever  on  your  clan? 
It  is  not  necessary.    This  is  my  fight." 
80 


"I  WILL  FIND  HIM" 

Mounting  his  horse,  John  Raymond 
started  towards  the  tent  of  Lozong. 

He  rode  swiftly  so  that  his  coming  would 
not  be  anticipated.  He  found  Jii  Lama 
turning  his  prayer-wheel  and  prostrating 
himself  toward  Lhasa.  Reaching  the  door 
of  the  tent  the  doctor  quickly  dismounted. 
One  of  the  younger  brothers  came  out.  The 
greeting  was  abrupt. 

"Where  is  Lozong?"  the  doctor  asked. 

The  brother  hesitated  only  for  a  moment. 

"Lozong  is  ill.  We  are  glad  you  have 
come." 

Sternness  left  the  face  of  John  Raymond 
for  a  moment  and  he  laughed  heartily. 

"Ah,  you  are  glad  I  have  come.  Perhaps 
there  is  another  in  your  tent  who  is  also  glad, 
but  it  is  not  Lozong." 

A  voice  from  within  called. 

"Throw  back  the  folds  of  the  tent.  Let 
the  doctor  view  every  corner.  What  are 
these  fanciful  and  mysterious  words  that  he 
speaks?" 

The  yak  hides  which  made  the  tent  were 
81 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

instantly  thrown  back  and  Raymond's  eyes 
swept  every  corner  of  it.  He  saw  at  once 
that  they  had  not  been  surprised.  Where 
were  they  hiding  her? 

He  stood  over  Lozong,  who  showed  de- 
cidedly the  effects  of  his  suffering.  They 
looked  at  each  other  searchingly  before  John 
Raymond  spoke. 

"Lozong,  where  is  she?" 

"Where  is  who?" 

"Do  not  play,  Lozong.  We  are  men  from 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  but  we  are  men. 
Where  is  the  white  woman  whom  you  robbed 
and  captured?" 

The  three  brothers,  the  attendants  and  Jii 
Lama  had  all  gathered  about  him.  He 
stood,  a  lone  figure,  defying  the  man  whom 
all  Tibet  feared.  He  was  not  armed,  for  he 
had  always  declared,  "When  I  hunt  wild 
animals  I  shall  go  armed,  but  otherwise  the 
reputation  of  the  service  which  I  render  men 
shall  protect  me." 

A  casual  observer  would  have  said  that 
these  men  were  most  unlike,  but  they  were 
82 


THE  NOMADS  TENT  WHERE  DK.    RAYMOND  FOUND  HIS  FRIEND 

There  nomads  always  follow  grass  with  their  tents  and  cattle.  As  the  snow  recedes  in  the 
Summer  they  go  higher  up  and  as  Winter  comes  on  they  seek  the  lower  valleys  away  from 
the  snow.  In  these  brown  tents  John  Raymond  ministered  to  the  many. 


THE    DOCTOR    SEEKING 
THE  TRAIL  OF  LOZONG 

Far  above  the  timber  line  the  Tibetan  robber  or 
traveler  find  their  way  through  rocky  wastes 
and  barren  places. 


"I  WILL  FIND  HIM" 

not.  If  Lozong  had  tested  his  young 
strength  on  the  western  plains  of  America 
and  if  John  Raymond  had  fought  his  battle 
of  existence  in  the  heights  of  this  far  coun- 
try of  Tibet,  each  might  easily  have  taken 
the  other's  place.  Both  were  made  for  the 
wilds,  but  environment,  training  and  religion 
had  fixed  their  courses.  One  lived;  because 
he  was  civilized,  to  conquer  and  preserve 
by  service ;  the  other  because  he  was  a  man 
of  the  wilds,  to  conquer  and  destroy  by 
force. 

John  Raymond  spoke  again: 

"Where  is  the  white  woman,  Lozong? 
You  must  tell  me.  You  have  hidden  her 
because  someone  told  you  that  I  was  com- 
ing. Were  it  not  for  me,  you  would  be  dead, 
and  as  I  catch  the  stench  of  your  wounds  I 
believe  death  is  not  far  away  unless  I  again 
minister  to  you.  Have  you  no  heart  of  grati- 
tude? Tell  me  where  she  is." 

The  cynical  smile  that  Sylvia  Lambert 
had  noticed  when  she  first  saw  Lozong  came 
to  his  face  now. 

83 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

"Doctor  Raymond,"  he  said,  "your  repu- 
tation as  a  man  of  judgment  and  justice  has 
gone  everywhere  in  Tibet.  You  know  that 
I  am  a  robber.  All  Tibet  knows  what  roads 
I  travel.  I  honor  you  because  you  are  the 
one  man  in  Tibet  whose  blood  is  not  pale 
though  your  skin  is  white.  You  are  the  one 
man  whose  courage  is  like  that  of  the  bear. 
No,  Doctor  Raymond,  Lozong  knows  too 
much  to  rob  a  white  man  or  to  capture  a 
woman  of  another  race.  Had  I  done  so,  we 
would  also  have  killed  her." 

The  doctor's  nerves  became  tense.  While 
denying,  was  Lozong  confessing  the  fate  of 
this  woman  whom  he  had  come  to  rescue  ? 

He  continued  in  his  denial,  but  John  Ray- 
mond ceased  to  listen. 

"Lozong,"  he  finally  said,  "once  your  life 
was  in  my  hands.  When  death  would  have 
taken  you  I  saved  you.  Bare  your  shoul- 
der." 

He  pulled  aside  the  heavy  garment,  and 
the  bandages  that  had  come  from  the  pack 
of  the  foreign  woman  were  revealed  to  him. 
84 


"I  WILL  FIND  HIM" 

Without  a  word  the  doctor  threw  back  his 
head  and  laughed.  Lozong  looked  defeated, 
for  he  had  forgotten  the  bandages,  which 
proved  without  doubt  that  he  had  been 
treated  by  one  who  was  familiar  with  for- 
eign medicine. 

When  the  doctor  had  laid  the  bandages 
back  from  the  wound  he  stood  aghast.  Such 
an  injury  would  have  ended  the  life  of  a  man 
less  strong.  With  the  greatest  care,  almost 
as  if  attending  a  friend,  he  ministered  to  the 
wounded  man  from  the  little  medicine  case 
swung  at  his  side,  and  tarried  all  the  day  in 
the  tent,  hoping  that  the  silent  lips  might, 
from  gratitude,  speak.  But  Lozong  re- 
mained silent.  When  the  doctor  was  about 
to  leave  Lozong  turned  and  said  to  him : 

"Lozong  in  all  his  life  has  sought  but  few 
friends.  Twice  you  have  saved  my  life.  I 
know  that  it  was  not  the  prayers  of  the 
Lama  or  the  mysteries  of  Tibetan  medicine 
that  saved  me.  It  was  your  skill.  Sometime 
I  will  pay  this  debt  to  you.  If  others  shall 
attempt  to  drive  you  from  Tibet  as  they  have 
85 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

threatened,  count  on  Lozong,  but  now  go 
back  to  your  hospital  and  forget  that  you 
have  heard  that  there  is  a  foreign  woman. 
Every  evidence  that  makes  you  believe  it  is 
a  lie." 

Raymond  laughed.  His  patient  watched 
him.  "I  would  carry  a  gash  like  this  in  my 
shoulder  for  a  month  to  hear  you  la,ugh," 
he  remarked. 

"Lozong,"  said  John  Raymond,  "Where 
is  the  white  woman?  Did  you  murder  her? 
Have  you  hidden  her  in  the  hills,  or  did  the 
pilgrim  on  the  road  to  Lhasa  speak  the  truth 
when  he  said  that  she  was  hiding  in  the  aban- 
doned monastery?" 

Lozong  was  instantly  alert. 

"What  did  you  say?" 

The  doctor  realized  at  once  that  he  had 
said  too  much. 

"Ah,  Lozong,"  he  said,  "perhaps  she  has 
escaped.  Do  you  think  I  would  tarry  here 
if  she  had?" 

"No,  I  don't  think  you  would,"  was  the 
answer. 

86 


"I  WILL  FIND  HIM" 

"She  is  hidden  somewhere.  Where  is  she, 
Lozong?" 

"In  the  imagination  of  a  man  who  came 
from  a  country  where  they  say  men  have  no 
imaginations,"  said  Lozong. 

Helpless,  vexed  and  hopeless  the  doctor 
rode  away. 


87 


CHAPTER  IX 

CAPTURED  AGAIN 

DR.  RAYMOND  rode  from  the  tent  of 
iLozong  determined  either  to  find  the 
pilgrim  whose  word  he  had  disregarded  or 
to  seek  the  ruined  lamasery  of  which  he  had 
been  told.  He  was  only  out  of  earshot  when 
Lozong,  who  had  been  unconscious  and  weak 
for  days,  arose.  In  a  tone  which  his  com- 
panions well  knew,  he  commanded, 

"Drop  the  tent.  Make  the  horses  ready. 
He  will  go  by  the  trail,  we  must  go  by  the 
pass.  In  a  single  word  he  revealed  to  us 
where  she  is.  Old  Babum  is  the  only  ruined 
monastery  between  here  and  the  hospital. 
She  is  hidden  in  the  ruined  lamasery  of  old 
Babum.  There  she  is  ill,  very  ill.  Let  us 

go." 

The  brother  who  was  next  to  Lozong  in 

88 


CAPTURED  AGAIN 

command,  protested,  urging  that  he  was  not 
well  enough  to  travel. 

"Rest  and  capture  her  later,"  he  advised. 

"Let  that  white  doctor  once  get  his  hand 
upon  her  and  the  Dalai  Lama  himself  could 
not  wrest  her  from  him.  His  grip  is  stronger 
than  the  grip  of  any  bear.  He  is  off  the  trail 
now.  He  thinks  we  do  not  have  her.  Where 
he  rides  one  mile  we  ride  three,  and  she  will 
be  ours." 

His  courage  and  purpose  were  impressed 
upon  those  who  watched  him  as  he  aroused 
himself  for  the  ride.  Although  evidently 
suffering  intense  pain  he  threw  himself  upon 
his  horse  and  turned  its  head  towards  the 
ruined  lamasery  where  Sylvia  Lambert  was 
hiding.  The  doctor  was  following  the  trail 
by  which  he  had  come  while  Lozong  and  his 
party  rode  across  unbeaten  ways  headed  for 
the  ruins  known  as  old  Babum,  for  a  new 
monastery  of  Babum  was  not  far  beyond. 

The  sick  woman  had  grown  worse  during 
the  first  few  hours  after  the  pilgrim  had 
gone  for  the  doctor,  and  then  the  fever  had 
89 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

abated  for  a  while.  She  lay  wondering 
whether  he  would  return  with  the  doctor, 
when  she  heard  the  sound  of  horses  ap- 
proaching. A  great  fear  took  possession  of 
her  when,  a  moment  later,  staggering  with 
weakness,  Lozong  walked  through  the 
broken  door.  She  was  in  the  only  room  of 
the  monastery  where  the  roof  had  remained 
intact.  Broken  idols  were  everywhere  as 
were  torn  prayer  flags.  For  a  time  he  stood 
looking  at  her  with  the  cynical  smile  which 
she  knew  so  well.  His  piercing  eyes  looked 
into  hers,  but  when  he  saw  she  was  ill  a 
seeming  tenderness  crept  into  his  expres- 
sion. 

She  reached  out  her  hand  to  him  implor- 
ingly. 

"You  were  sick  and  I  helped  you,"  she 
said.  "Now  I  am  sick.  Won't  you  help 
me?" 

Lozong  raised  his  eyebrows  and  shrugged 
his  shoulders. 

"I  will  give  you  anything  that  Eastern 
Tibet  holds  but  one.  You  need  not  ask  for 
90 


CAPTURED  AGAIN 

the  foreign  doctor,  for  ever  we  shall  hide 
you  from  him.  If  he  should  come  it  would 
not  be  as  a  doctor  but  as  an  enemy  to  our 
clan.  You  are  sick  and  perhaps  I  ought 
not  to  say  this  to  you  now,  but  you  must 
know  that  if  ever  you  leave  this  tent  again 
life  will  lift  itself  beyond  the  mountains,  and 
the  woman  you  are  shall  be  no  more.  You 
might  as  well  know  it  now,  you  were  not 
captured  for  your  money.  You  are  to  be 
the  wife  of  our  tent.  I  hear  that  in  your 
land  one  man  has  one  wife,  and  in  other  lands 
one  man  had  many  wives,  but  in  Tibet 
brothers  may  have  one  wife.  You  are  to  be 
the  wife  of  our  family.  In  Tibet  the  woman 
rules  the  tent.  Our  wife  is  dead.  Her 
ashes  sleep  in  a  valley  in  the  Province  of 
Derge.  Your  word  will  be  our  law  when 
you  are  ours.  A  man  chooses  a  woman  in 
Tibet  and  then  steals  her.  We  have  chosen 
you  and  stolen  you.  Your  fate  is  settled." 
Words  cannot  describe  the  terror  that 
filled  her  heart.  This  man  was  not  propos- 
ing that  she  should  be  his  for  an  hour,  but 
91 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

that  she  should  dwell  with  him  always  and 
become  one  of  them.  She  swooned  and 
upon  regaining  consciousness  found  Lozong 
still  close  beside  her. 

"Do  not  speak  now,"  he  commanded.  "I 
was  wrong  to  intimate  at  this  time  that  which 
would  shock  you." 

"But  you  must  know,"  she  moaned,  "that 
I  cannot  do  what  you  propose.  You  are 
strong,  you  kill  because  your  code  admits 
death,  but  I  know  that  you  do  not  mean 
this.  I  know  that  you  will  not  make  me  do 
that  which  is  strange  to  my  race  and  belief 
and  even  the  thought  of  which  nearly  kills 
me.  You  kill,  because  it  is  a  part  of  the 
chase,  but  would  you  who  are  strong  hurt  a 
woman?" 

He  seemed  to  be  studying  her  as  he  an- 
swered. 

"Your  language  is  strange.  Your  race 
is  different  from  mine.  Our  women  rule 
but  they  do  not  plead." 

"I  am  sick,"  she  replied.  "Somehow  I 
92 


CAPTURED  AGAIN 

feel  that  it  will  be  solved  in  a  way  which  we 
know  not.     Please  wait." 

Lozong  hesitated. 

"Some  time  we  will  talk  again,"  he  said. 


93 


CHAPTER  X 

WITHIN  LAMASERY  WALLS 

LOZONG'S  talk  with  his  captive  re- 
vealed to  him  how  ill  she  was,  for  she 
again  became  unconscious  and  was  at  times 
delirious.  The  Chinese  woman  who  had 
been  so  faithful  came  to  Lozong  and  stood 
before  him.  She  was  in  the  fury  that  only 
the  women  of  China  can  attain. 

"Everywhere  we  have  gone  men  have  told 
us  that  you  are  powerful  but  that  you  are 
just.  This  woman  cannot  be  healed  by 
yak's  milk  or  by  any  of  the  methods  of  heal- 
ing which  have  been  used.  It  will  require 
the  touch  of  a  foreign  hand  and  the  miracle 
of  foreign  medicine  to  bring  about  her  heal- 
ing. I  implore  you  to  take  her  to  the  doc- 
tor." 

The  same  cynical  smile  played  on  Lo- 
zong's  lips  as  he  shrugged  his  shoulders. 
94 


WITHIN  LAMASERY  WALLS 

"You  ask  the  impossible.  This  fever  may 
burn  the  last  drop  of  blood  in  her  veins,  but 
the  foreign  doctor's  hands  shall  never  touch 
her.  I  will  do  everything  that  is  possible, 
but  you  ask  the  impossible." 

"It  is  not  impossible  for  you  to  be  just," 
railed  the  Chinese  woman. 

Lozong  was  silent  for  a  long  time  before 
he  answered, 

"Your  interpretation  of  justice  is  differ- 
ent than  mine.  I  will  tell  you  what  we  are 
going  to  do.  We  are  going  to  take  her  to 
the  lamasery  and  there  they  will  heal  her." 

Jii  Lama,  who  had  been  within  hearing 
distance,  hanging  up  prayer  flags  upon  each 
of  which  was  written  the  mysterious  prayer, 
"Om  mani  padme  hum,"  and  who  had  been 
writing  it  on  the  rocks  of  the  ruined  lamasery 
where  it  had  not  been  written  before,  came 
to  Lozong. 

"Your  plan  is  wise,"  he  said,  "but  you 
cannot  take  this  woman  to  the  lamasery 
across  the  valley,  because  the  abbot  will  al- 
low no  woman  to  enter  its  doors.  It  is  the 
95 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

Yellow  Cap  sect.  Farther  to  the  south, 
however,  the  priests  are  not  so  particular. 
Women  come  and  go  there.  The  abbot  of 
the  one  across  the  valley  is  known  for  his 
uprightness,  the  other  for  his  liberality." 

"Then  we  will  take  her  to  the  lamasery  to 
the  south,  we  will  take  her  to  New  Babum," 
answered  Lozong. 

As  they  talked  the  sick  woman  stirred. 
The  Chinese  woman  instantly  leaned  over 
her. 

"I  want  Lozong,"  she  said. 

He  came  and  stood  beside  her. 

"Once  I  feared  you  more  than  any  wild 
animal,"  she  told  him,  "for  I  had  not  then 
talked  with  you,  but  even  in  that  hour  I 
bandaged  your  wounds  because  you  were  in 
need  of  help.  Now  I  am  in  dire  distress, 
and  but  a  few  hours  away  is  one  who  can 
cure  me.  I  beg  of  you  to  take  me  to  him. 
We  sent  for  him  but  evidently  the  messen- 
ger did  not  reach  him." 

The  expression  on  Lozong's  face  revealed 
96 


WITHIN  LAMASERY  WALLS 

that  he  already  knew  what  she  was  telling 
him. 

"Ah,"  she  said,  "y°u  have  turned  him  off 
the  trail." 

"Yes,"  he  answered,  "I  shall  be  honest 
with  you.  He  sought  you  in  my  tent.  Soon 
he  will  ride  to  this  very  place  and  for  that 
reason  we  must  move  you  so  that  he  cannot 
find  you.  You  do  not  understand.  Even 
though  we  are  powerful  we  may  yet  have 
cause  to  fear  our  enemies.  I  admire  the 
doctor  when  he  laughs.  He  takes  bitterness 
and  sorrow  out  of  my  heart  and  I  am  mer- 
ciful for  many  days  after.  If  you  could 
hear  him  laugh  you  would  be  well,  but  when 
his  eyes  are  hard,  even  Lozong  fears  him." 

"Oh,  you  must  take  me  to  him,"  she 
pleaded. 

Lozong  hesitated. 

"The  pleadings  of  one  to  whom  I  owe  a 
great  deal  are  the  hardest  to  refuse.  I  am 
Chief,  and  Tibet  fears  me.  It  is  not  self 
praise  when  I  say  that  my  brain  planned 
these  many  things.  But  my  brothers  also 
97 


have  a  voice.  The  older  brother  cannot  dis- 
regard the  rights  of  the  others,  and  so  if  we 
were  to  send  for  the  doctor  the  younger 
brothers  would  question  our  action.  Jii 
Lama  says  you  can  be  cured  yonder  at  the 
Red  Cap  lamasery  across  the  mountains ;  not 
at  the  Yellow  Cap  across  the  valley,  for  no 
woman  can  enter  there.  I  shall  see  to  it 
that  your  health  is  restored,  but  in  my  own 
way." 

"Is  there  no  promise  that  I  can  make  to 
you  that  would  induce  you  to  send  for  the 
doctor?"  asked  the  sick  woman. 

"No,"  returned  the  chief.  "I  know  that 
in  your  fear  of  me  nothing  would  keep  you 
from  speaking  to  him  and  imploring  him 
to  help  you,  and  I  know  him." 

Lozong  knew  that  it  was  necessary  to 
move  rapidly  or  the  doctor  would  be  upon 
them.  True,  he  would  come  alone  and  un- 
armed ;  a  knife  or  a  bullet  would  silence  him 
forever,  but  a  clear  eye,  a  low  spoken  voice, 
and  a  courage  that  agitates  not  were  a  sure 
protection  against  Lozong,  surer  than  the 


WITHIN  LAMASERY  WALLS 

bullet  or  an  army.     It  was  the  look  from 
the  doctor's  eyes  that  Lozong  feared. 

With  Sylvia  Lambert  on  the  saddle  before 
him  Lozong  rode  down  the  narrow  confines 
of  the  valley,  towards  the  lamasery  of  the 
Red-capped  Lamas.  The  brothers  and  the 
servant  followed  behind.  As  they  turned 
abruptly  over  a  mountain  pass  the  lamasery 
appeared  in  view.  Hanging  alone  on  the 
cliff,  it  seemed  inaccessible,  as  are  most  of 
the  lamaseries  of  Tibet.  This  one  with  its 
hundred  priests  was  noted  for  the  form  and 
profuseness  of  its  ceremonies,  the  ability  of 
its  Lamas  in  art,  and  the  grotesqueness  of 
its  butter  feasts. 

There  seemed  to  be  no  road  leading  to  it, 
but  Lozong  turned  his  horse  sharply  to  the 
left,  and,  stopping  at  a  door  in  a  cave, 
rapped  long  and  loud.  A  priest  stood  out 
on  the  point  of  a  great  rock,  glanced  at 
them,  and  the  door  was  opened.  The 
horsemen  rode  in. 

The  interior  of  a  Tibetan  lamasery  is  dif- 
ferent from  and  yet  strikingly  similar  to 
99 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

Buddhist  temples  the  world  over.  Japan's 
temples  are  more  ornate,  China's  more  dirty, 
but  in  Tibet  every  conceivable  form  of 
Buddhism  finds  expression  not  in  a  single 
great  room,  as  in  other  countries,  but  in  nu- 
merous rooms  and  shrines.  The  Lamas  of 
this  temple  belonged  to  the  Red  Cap  sect. 
Many  of  them  had  entered  at  an  early  age 
and  were  versed  in  all  of  its  forms. 

Lozong's  party  rode  directly  to  the  room 
which  was  always  reserved  for  their  leader. 
The  priests  were  turning  their  prayer 
wheels,  and  flags  bearing  the  magic  prayer 
floated  about  everywhere.  As  they  entered 
the  inner  court  and  it  was  voiced  about  that 
Lozong  had  a  white  woman  with  him,  the 
murmuring  of  the  priests  ceased  and  the 
shaven-headed,  gray-garbed  group  pressed 
into  the  little  room. 

"Why  does  a  woman  come  here?" 
"Whom  has  Lozong  brought  this  time?" 
"Why  does  he  come  this  way?"  were  their 
comments. 

Seeming  to  disregard  them,  he  ordered  a 
100 


WITHIN  LAMASERY  WALLS 

bed  to  be  made  quickly  for  the  sick  woman, 
Jii  Lama,  who  had  accompanied  his  party, 
came  to  him  and  asked, 

"Whom  shall  we  want?" 

Then  Lozong  looked  around  and  seemed 
for  the  first  time  to  realize  the  presence  of 
the  group  of  Lamas  who  had  followed  them 
into  the  room. 

"Two,"  he  answered.  "The  abbot  and 
the  healing  Lama  of  the  temple." 

In  an  instant  the  room  was  cleared.  The 
abbot  came  accompanied  by  several  atten- 
dants. Lozong's  order  was  explicit  and  de- 
finite. 

"Kembul,"  he  said,  addressing  the  abbot 
by  his  title,  which  is  always  given  an  abbot, 
"this  white  woman  has  set  her  face  to  Lhasa. 
I  felt  that  it  was  the  will  of  Buddha  to  stop 
her.  Her  caravan  has  been  scattered  and 
killed  and  now  she  is  ill.  I  do  not  want  her 
to  die.  There  are  reasons  that  I  need  not 
mention  to  you.  Will  you  save  her?" 

It  did  not  take  the  abbot  long  to  answer. 

"If  it  is  the  will  of  the  gods  that  she  should 
101 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

live,  life  will  be  hers.  I  will  send  the  heal- 
ing Lama." 

The  healing  Lama  came.  After  looking 
at  her  intently  for  a  long  time,  he  said, 

"Ah,  it  is  easy  to  know  what  troubles  her. 
She  is  possessed  of  a  devil,  who  has  allowed 
her  to  proceed  this  far,  and  who  will  destroy 
her  if  she  persists.  Only  a  devil  could  have 
given  her  the  desire  to  go  to  Lhasa.  If  it 
is  destroyed  consciousness  will  return." 

Going  to  the  door  he  called  an  attendant. 

"Go,"  he  said,  "and  bring  the  clay  and 
tsamba  worker  and  the  artists  of  the  tem- 
ple." 

In  a  little  while  a  figure  of  clay  supposed 
to  represent  the  sick  woman,  was  brought 
in.  Many-flamed  butter  lamps  were  placed 
around  it.  The  air  was  heavy  with  incense. 
Score  of  Lamas  began  a  weird  ceremony 
in  which  they  implored  the  evil  one  to  leave 
her  body  and  prayed  Buddha  to  turn  her 
from  her  purpose  to  go  to  Lhasa  and  send 
her  out  of  Tibet.  When  they  came  to  this 
point  in  the  ceremony  Lozong  interrupted. 
102 


WITHIN  LAMASERY  WALLS 

"Not  out  of  Tibet!  Only  that  she  may 
not  go  to  Lhasa.  Pray  that  the  will  of 
Buddha  be  done." 

During  nearly  the  whole  day  the  priests 
continued  their  songs,  the  beating  of  cym- 
bals, and  the  turning  of  prayer  wheels.  Un- 
der the  terrific  noise  and  the  heaviness  of 
the  air  laden  with  incense  the  unconscious 
woman  grew  gradually  worse.  A  Lama  who 
knew  something  of  the  outside  world 
watched  her  and  realized  that  she  was  grow- 
ing worse.  He  went  to  Lozong. 

"She  is  very  low,"  he  said.  "It  would  be 
foolish  indeed  to  let  her  die.  I  know  that 
you  and  the  white  doctor  are  enemies,  but 
you  had  better  send  for  him." 

One  of  Lozong's  brothers  who  was  close 
at  hand  urged  him  to  send  for  John  Ray- 
mond. 

"The  Lama  speaks  the  truth,"  he  said. 
"It  is  not  wise  to  let  her  die  here." 

Lozong's  face  grew  hard.  The  Chinese 
woman,  who  had  faithfully  remained  by  the 
sick  woman's  side,  awaited  his  decision  with 
103 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

bated  breath.  Turning  to  his  personal  serv- 
ant, whom  he  trusted  implicitly,  he  com- 
manded. 

"Go  for  the  doctor.    Tell  him  Lozong 
says  that  no  minutes  must  escape  him." 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  DOCTOR  COMES 

fTlHE  word  of  Lozong  was  obeyed  by  his 
•*•  followers  as  is  the  command  of  a  king, 
The  sun  was  setting  when  the  messenger 
slipped  down  through  the  courtyard  and  out 
from  the  great  cave,  leading  a  horse  that 
had  not  an  ounce  of  superfluous  flesh  but 
whose  sinews  were  like  steel.  On  through 
the  valley  he  rode,  and  then  turned  abruptly, 
seemingly  over  trackless  rocks,  towards  the 
little  Tibetan  town  where  Dr.  Raymond 
lived  and  in  which  was  his  hospital.  He 
had  made  this  little  unknown  town  famous 
by  his  work.  It  would  have  taken  the  aver- 
age rider  two  days,  but  on  and  on  through 
the  night,  without  a  moment's  rest,  went  this 
messenger.  The  sun  was  not  very  high  in 
the  heavens  when  he  stopped  at  the  door  of 
the  little  hospital.  When  he  asked  for  the 
105 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

Doctor  the  servant  at  the  door  answered, 

"You  cannot  see  him.  He  has  just  re- 
turned from  a  long  ride  and  is  resting." 

"I  must  see  him,"  returned  the  messen- 
ger. "Tell  him  that  I  bring  a  message  from 
Lozong." 

Knowing  of  the  doctor's  recent  fruitless 
visit  the  mention  of  Lozong's  name  sent  the 
servant  at  once  to  the  doctor,  who  was  sleep- 
ing soundly  after  his  journey.  The  messen- 
ger followed  the  servant  into  the  simply  fur- 
nished, little  sleeping  room  above  the  hos- 
pital. 

When  the  doctor  had  been  awakened,  the 
messenger  delivered  Lozong's  command  as 
simply  and  as  briefly  as  it  had  been  given 
by  the  chief  himself. 

"The  white  woman  and  Lozong  are  in  the 
Red  Cap  monastery  of  new  Babum,"  he  said. 
"She  is  near  to  death.  Lozong  bids  you 
come.  Not  a  minute  must  be  lost." 

The  doctor  looked  at  the  messenger  a 
long  time  and  then  threw  back  his  head  and 
laughed. 

106 


THE  DOCTOR  COMES 

"Did  you  come  by  the  trail,  or  by  the 
shortest  way?" 

The  messenger  answered  as  briefly  as  he 
had  spoken! 

"It  was  dark  when  I  started.  Think  you 
that  I  came  by  the  trail?" 

Turning  to  his  own  servant  the  doctor 
commanded, 

"Get  the  swiftest  horses,  for  we  must  go 
immediately.  We  must  reach  the  monastery 
at  dark." 

Meanwhile  Lozong  restlessly  watched  the 
increasing  fever  of  his  captive,  and  it  was 
late  in  the  night  before  he  sought  sleep.  In 
the  early  morning  consciousness  returned  to 
the  woman  who  had  journeyed  so  far  and 
whose  spirit  had  not  been  quenched  even 
though  death  was  apparently  near.  The  at- 
tendants noticed  the  change  and  called  Lo- 
zong who  came  and  sat  beside  her.  Some- 
how she  did  not  now  dread  his  coming. 
Though  he  had  threatened  her,  the  very  rug- 
gedness  and  daring  of  this  man  appealed  to 
her.  Ill  as  she  was,  she  remembered  that 
107 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

she  had  wanted  to  know  a  man  unspoiled  by 
the  veneer  of  modern  life.  Here  was  one 
who  was  indeed  different  from  the  average 
man. 

When  he  first  came  to  her  Lozong  did  not 
speak,  but  sat  motionless  beside  her  on  the 
ground.  Finally  he  spoke. 

"The  wish  of  your  heart  was  that  I  should 
send  for  the  doctor.  I  have  sent  for  him. 
If  I  know  my  messenger — I  know  the  doc- 
tor— it  will  only  be  a  few  hours  until  he 
comes.  These  Lamas  and  abbots  tremble 
at  my  word,  but  this  white  man  dares  to 
face  our  religion  with  all  its  wealth  and 
power,  and  he  dares  to  face  me.  His  faith 
in  his  religion  makes  him  fearless.  But  Lo- 
zong is  relentless  when  his  will  is  thwarted. 
This  doctor  must  not  know  who  you  are.  I 
have  let  you  live,  and  I  have  in  the  past  let 
him  live,  but  I  say  to  you  that  if  you  shall 
speak  one  word  of  the  language  of  the  west, 
or  if  by  any  sign  you  or  this  Chinese  woman 
make  an  appeal  for  help  or  tell  him  who  you 
are,  then  it  shall  be  death  for  all  of  you.  It 
108 


THE  DOCTOR  COMES 

has  been  decreed  that  you  are  to  be  the  wife 
of  our  tent.  Nothing  can  prevent  it  for  Lo- 
zong  wills  it.  I  have  stolen  you.  Under 
Tibetan  law  you  are  already  our  wife.  Not 
now — not  until  you  are  well;  but  when  you 
speak,  think  of  this — it  is  not  your  own  life 
you  are  destroying,  but  the  life  of  a  man 
whom  you  have  never  seen.  Lozong  would 
not  warn  you  thus  if  he  did  not  know  the  im- 
portance of  this  man's  work  among  the  peo- 
ple. He  must  stay  in  Tibet.  The  Lamas 
want  to  drive  him  out,  but  I  will  not  let  them. 
I  am  his  friend,  but  one  word  from  you  will 
make  me  his  enemy  and  he  not  only  leaves 
Tibet,  but  he  dies." 

As  he  spoke  his  voice  was  quiet  but  his 
face  was  terrible.  She  knew  that  he  spoke 
the  truth.  With  this  he  left  her. 

Sylvia  Lambert  lay  with  her  eyes  closed 
for  a  long  time.  "The  messenger  left  last 
night,"  she  thought.  "Lozong  says  that  he 
is  now  riding  towards  me.  Oh,  I  must  be 
silent !  I  must  not  cause  his  death.  I  won- 
der what  kind  of  man  he  is.  Everyone 
109 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

knows  him  and  respects  him.  They  fear 
him  for  his  very  justice  and  service.  It  is 
tetter  a  thousand  times  that  I  die  than  that 
he  should  be  harmed." 

Near  the  end  of  the  day  the  Lama  who 
was  the  watchman  on  the  lookout  tower, 
commanding  a  view  of  every  corner  of  the 
valley,  came  to  Lozong. 

"Two  horsemen  have  jusf  come  through 
the  gap,"  he  said.  "Think  ye  not  that  one 
is  your  messenger  and  the  other  the  white 
man?" 

"Ah,  they  have  done  well,"  was  the  chief's 
reply.  "I  dare  say  the  hours  of  coming 
were  less  than  the  hours  of  going,  for  when 
haste  is  required  that  doctor  has  the  com- 
bined heart  of  a  devil  and  an  eagle." 

No  matter  what  courage  a  man  may  have 
he  is  nervous  when  he  meets  his  equal  or 
superior. 

Lozong  was  nervous  while  he  waited  the 
doctor's  coming  although  he  had  outwitted 
and  worsted  him  in  the  present  conflict. 

The  doctor  was  admitted  at  once  at  the 
110 


THE  DOCTOR  COMES 

door  and  it  was  only  a  few  minutes  until 
they  rode  into  the  court.  Lozong  went  out 
to  meet  him.  Raymond,  quickly  dismount- 
ing, came  forward.  The  doctor  was  clad 
in  khaki  which  was  dirty  from  the  journey, 
while  Lozong  was  clad  in  the  fine  garb  of 
a  chief  as  if  it  was  a  feast  day.  They  stood 
face  to  face  and  blue  eyes  looked  directly 
into  black  eyes — and  neither  wavered,  and 
then  the  doctor  laughed.  In  the  sick  room, 
Sylvia  Lambert,  who  had  been  waiting  for 
him  for  hours,  heard  the  laugh  and  smiled, 
and  a  thrill  passed  through  her  whole  body. 

"It  is  as  they  said,"  she  thought,  "I  am 
already  well." 

''Where  is  she?"  Raymond  asked,  chang- 
ing instantly  to  the  quick  concern  of  the 
physician. 

Lozong  did  not  reply  at  once.  Then  in 
a  quiet  and  self-restrained  voice  he  an- 
swered : 

"Doctor,  there  are  some  things  you  must 
first  understand.  You  know  that  I  have 
wished  that  you  and  I  should  be  friends. 
Ill 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

Seemingly  by  accident  it  has  transpired  that 
we  are,  on  this  occasion,  enemies,  and  a  fight 
is  on  between  us.  As  you  know,  I  do  not 
wish  to  harm  you,  but  I  say  to  you  that  if 
any  word  passes  between  you  and  this 
woman  in  any  other  than  the  Tibetan  lan- 
guage, and  on  any  other  subject  than  her 
health,  at  that  moment  for  both  of  you  the 
end  will  come." 

Again  the  doctor  laughed,  and  in  the  fash- 
ion of  the  Occident  he  reached  over  and 
patted  Lozong  on  the  shoulder. 

"What  have  I  to  say  to  her  that  I  would 
not  say  in  your  language?  I  come  as  a 
physician." 

When  he  entered  the  room  he  spoke  to  the 
sick  woman  in  Tibetan. 

"This  friend  of  ours,  Lozong,"  he  said, 
"wishes  us  to  speak  to  each  other  only  in 
his  language.  Will  you  please  tell  me  your 
trouble  and  how  you  are  ill?" 

In  a  few  brief  words  she  explained  her 
illness,  then  he  examined  her  swiftly  and  ac- 
curately. The  room  was  dark  and  close. 
112 


THE  DOCTOR  COMES 

He  had  looked  at  her  only  casually  until  he 
had  finished  his  examination.  Then  his  eyes 
met  hers  full  and  fair  for  the  first  time. 
Sick  as  she  was  her  beauty  shone  out  from 
her  face  and  eyes  in  appeal.  Raymond  felt 
as  if  an  electric  shock  had  passed  over  him. 
He  could  not  take  his  eyes  from  hers.  She 
never  afterwards  forgot  that  moment  when 
she  first  looked  into  this  doctor's  smiling 
face.  Her  first  impression  was  that  he  was 
a  man  who  could  be  rather  easily  led  because 
his  face  was  so  serene  and  pleasant,  but  she 
soon  decided  that  his  strong  features  and 
steady  glance  were  those  of  a  man  of  iron 
will.  He  said  nothing  to  her  about  her  con- 
dition, and,  when  he  arose,  went  without  a 
word  into  the  courtyard  with  Lozong.  The 
night  was  cloudless.  Here  and  there  the 
light  of  a  flickering  lamp  flared  out  from 
some  window  of  the  monastery,  and  as  they 
looked  through  the  doors  they  could  see 
tapeis  of  incense. 

"Lozong,"  he  said,  "we  must  not  quarrel 
now  for  we  have  a  difficult  task  on  our  hands. 
113 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

We  may  save  her,  but  it  will  not  be  brought 
about  by  the  power  of  these  gods,  but  by  the 
one  God  who  hears  and  answers  intelligent 
prayer.  You  and  I,  working  with  Him, 
will  save  her." 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  night  Dr. 
Raymond  was  at  the  side  of  the  helpless  and 
suffering  woman,  and  while  not  there  he  was 
not  sleeping.  He  was  unable  to  banish  her 
from  his  mind.  He  could  not  remember 
having  ever  seen  another  woman  like  her. 
If  he  had,  it  had  not  been  to  understand 
her.  Courageous  and  cultured,  she  came, 
it  is  true,  from  his  own  land,  but  it  was  as 
from  another  world.  He  wondered  what 
his  duty  was  towards  her.  He  knew  noth- 
ing of  her  story,  nothing  of  the  purpose 
which  led  her  to  Lhasa.  It  was  evident  that 
she  was  not  a  missionary.  By  many  signs 
he  was  sure  of  that.  He  knew  well  that  if 
he  attempted  to  rescue  her  the  wrath  of 
Lozong  and  the  Lamas  would  descend  upon 
him.  Few  men  had  become  so  wedded  to 
their  work  as  had  John  Raymond.  It  was 
114 


THE  DOCTOR  COMES 

his  very  life.  The  question  uppermost  in  his 
mind  as  he  meditated  upon  what  he  ought 
to  do  was  what  effect  the  fight  with  Lozong 
would  have  upon  his  work,  for  that  was  su- 
preme. While  he  felt  it  a  duty  to  save  her, 
he  was  sure  that  he  must  take  no  step  which 
would  interfere  with  that  which  was  the  pas- 
sion of  his  life. 


115 


CHAPTER  XII 

HOPELESS  HOPE 

THE  fight  that  John  Raymond  made  for 
Sylvia  Lambert's  life  was  the  same 
that  any  doctor  would  make  anywhere  for 
the  life  of  a  woman  ill  from  fear  and  ex- 
posure. At  times  her  mind  wandered  and 
he  sat  open-eyed  beside  her  as  she  revealed 
the  story  of  her  lif  e  and  her  attitude  towards 
men.  They  were  never  alone,  however,  for 
Lozong  was  always  a  silent  sentinel.  For 
several  days  he  fought  for  her  life.  Some 
days  later  when  Raymond  went  to  her  after 
only  a  few  hours  of  sleep,  he  saw  a  look  in 
her  eyes  that  made  him  straighten  himself 
and  clench  his  hands.  He  saw  there  grati- 
tude and,  without  doubt,  an  unconscious  ex- 
pression of  love  and  longing.  He  did  not 
know  that  men  ever  felt  the  things  which 
116 


HOPELESS  HOPE 

swept  over  him.  Lozong  moved  uneasily 
and  then  asked  abruptly, 

"Have  not  the  eyes  language?  Why  do 
you  look  at  her  in  that  way? — you  look  at 
her  too  much." 

The  doctor  eyed  him  sharply  before  he 
said, 

"Lozong,  why  are  you  so  suspicious?  Can 
I  learn  how  she  is  if  I  do  not  look  at  her  or 
touch  her?" 

"Is  she  not  better  now?"  demanded  Lo- 
zong. 

"I  will  see,"  said  the  doctor,  as  he  held 
her  arm  and  placed  his  fingers  on  her  wrist. 
Lozong  had  seen  him  do  this  several  times 
a  day  when  he  took  her  pulse,  but  now  there 
was  a  pressure  there  which  the  woman  had 
not  felt  before  and  instinctively  she  turned 
her  head,  and  for  a  single  moment  he  felt 
an  appeal,  and  understanding,  which  he  had 
never  before  known  in  a  woman's  touch. 

The  silent  chief  seemed  to  sense  something 
between  them. 

Sylvia,  fearing  that  the  chief  perceived 
117 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

something  between  them,  quickly  withdrew 
her  hand  and  looking  squarely  into  the  doc- 
tor's face  she  said  to  him  in  the  Tibetan 
language  which  she  always  used, 

"I  am  sure  my  husbands  will  appreciate 
what  you  have  done." 

Lozong  looked  at  her  in  wonder  and  then 
at  the  doctor. 

"It  is  enough,"  he  said. 

When  the  doctor  left  the  room  he  saw 
that  Lozong  was  uneasy  and  he  dreaded 
what  the  day  might  bring. 

Lozong  went  to  the  abbot  of  the  monas- 
tery. 

"Kembul,  is  this  doctor  needed  any 
longer?"  he  asked  him.  "Why  should  he 
tarry  here?  I  think  you  know  that  it  is  our 
intention  that  if  she  lives  she  shall  be  ours. 
Our  tent  is  wifeless,  and  I  believe  the  gods 
themselves  have  sent  this  woman  to  me.  She 
belongs  to  me  for  I  have  conquered  and  I 
have  ruled — this  time  the  gods  have  smiled 
upon  me  and  they  have  decreed  that  she  shall 
be  mine." 

118 


HOPELESS  HOPE 

"Yes,"  answered  the  abbot,  "I  think  it 
well  that  the  doctor  should  go." 

The  doctor  felt  instinctively  that  the  time 
had  come  when  he  must  strike.  When  Lo- 
zong came  from  the  room  of  the  abbot  the 
doctor  went  directly  to  him. 

"I  wish  to  see  His  Excellency,  and  I  want 
you  with  me,  Lozong,"  he  said. 

The  abbot  was  seated  on  a  throne,  clad 
in  the  robes  of  his  office.  Two  or  three 
priests  were  beside  him.  Lozong,  with  one 
of  his  brothers,  seated  himself  on  the  floor. 
There  were  in  the  room  several  large  images 
of  Buddha  and  his  disciples.  That  of 
Buddha  was  inlaid  with  gold. 

"East  is  east,  and  west  is  west,"  quoted 
the  doctor  to  himself  as  he  looked  about  him, 
"and  never  the  twain  shall  meet." 

He  addressed  Lozong. 

"There  is  a  woman  here  from  the  west. 
From  what  you  have  told  me,  for  I  have  had 
no  word  with  her  other  than  what  you  have 
heard,  she  evidently  hoped  to  go  to  Lhasa. 
I  promise  you,  that  that  expedition  shall  be 
119 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

given  up  and  that  I  will  take  her  to  the 
little  sanitarium  where  she  can  rest  a  few 
days,  then  I  will  see  that  she  crosses  the 
Drechu  and  goes  out  of  Tibet  forever.  She 
is  not  yours.  Buddha  cannot  bless  such  a 
union  as  you  propose.  I  beg  of  you  to  let 
her  go  with  me." 

There  was  a  long  silence,  but  finally  the 
abbot  answered. 

"In  this  the  will  of  Lozong  must  be  su- 
preme. Whatever  Lozong  shall  say,  that 
shall  be  done." 

Lozong's  younger  brother  spoke. 

"It  is  not  the  will  of  Lozong  alone.  Our 
tent  has  ruled  that  she  shall  be  our  wife ;  why 
argue  it?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Lozong  at  once.  "Why 
argue  it?  Doctor,  I  admire  your  bravery 
and  your  honor.  You  have  kept  your  pact 
with  me  that  no  secret  word  would  pass  be- 
tween you,  but  now  the  time  has  come  when 
we  must  further  understand  each  other. 
This  woman  is  ours.  In  an  hour  from  now 
you  must  ride  out  from  this  monastery.  If 
120 


HOPELESS  HOPE 

you  ever  pursue  us  again  you  will  find  only 
her  dead  body  and  your  own  life  will  be 
worthless.  Lozong  does  not  threaten,  he 
acts." 

Turning  to  the  abbot  he  said, 

"Kembul,  we  loiter  not  longer.  When 
another  division  of  the  day  has  passed  the 
doctor  must  be  gone." 

Raymond  arose  to  his  feet. 

"I  know  it  is  useless  to  insist,"  he  said, 
"and  I  shall  not  do  so.  I  came  at  your  in- 
vitation. I  go  under  protest,  but  I  warn 
you  that  the  fight  is  not  over.  May  I  see 
her  again?" 

"No,"  was  the  answer. 

There  was  no  laughter  on  Raymond's  lips 
as  he  heard  this  final  word.  The  blue  had 
left  his  eyes  and  they  were  as  glittering  steel 
when  he  looked  into  Lozong's. 

"Lozong,  harm  one  hair  of  her  head,  force 

her  to  do  one  thing  against  her  will  and  the 

charms  that  have  seemed  to  preserve  you  and 

your  clan  will  be  as  rags,  the  birds  will  eat 

121 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

your  caravan  and  your  property  will  all  be 
scattered." 

With  this  and  brief  instructions  for  the 
care  of  the  patient,  John  Raymond  led  his 
horse  across  the  courtyard  and  down  into 
the  cave,  and  rode  out  through  the  portals 
of  the  monastery  and  down  the  valley 
towards  his  Tibetan  home,  wondering  if  he 
should  have  fought  to  save  her.  But  what 
could  he  do  alone?  She  had  said,  "Lozong 
spoke  the  truth."  In  his  helplessness  he 
prayed  to  God  that  somehow  the  heavens 
would  open  and  give  him  help  to  rescue  her, 
for  in  his  heart  he  knew  it  was  not  so. 

Down  through  the  valley,  past  little  clus- 
ters of  flat-roofed  houses  and  across  small 
streams  went  John  Raymond  on  the  long 
road  home.  Recognized  everywhere  and 
greeted  with  great  respect — for  it  was 
known  that  the  doctor  had  gone  at  the  bid- 
ding of  Lozong,  he  wondered  if  these  peo- 
ple whom  he  had  helped  could  be  enlisted 
against  the  robber  chief  in  an  effort  to  save 
the  white  woman.  The  threat  of  Lozong 
122 


HOPELESS  HOPE 

however,  could  not  be  overlooked.  "If  you 
seek  her  that  moment  she  and  you  shall  die." 

With  a  feeling  of  real  joy  he  came  at  last 
to  the  little  town  beside  the  Drechu.  Here 
were  friends,  not  of  his  race,  but  the  natives 
among  whom  he  worked — staunch  friends, 
such  as  the  missionaries  on  the  frontiers  of 
the  world  are  always  making.  These  peo- 
ple represented  two  nationalities,  Chinese 
and  Tibetan.  Living  as  traders  with  the 
Tibetans,  the  Chinese  seemed  to  feel  a  kin- 
ship to  this  man  who  also  was  a  stranger  in 
a  strange  land.  When  the  doctor  reached 
his  little  home  he  pondered  long  over  his 
problem.  While  wondering  what  he  should 
do,  he  realized  all  the  time  that  anything  he 
might  say  would  be  carried  to  the  ears  of 
Lozong,  yet  he  needed  someone  in  whom  he 
could  confide,  someone  who  could  help  him. 

As  he  rode  into  his  compound  that  morn- 
ing, the  young  Chinese  who  served  as  an 
assistant  in  the  hospital  came  out  to  greet 
him.  This  young  man  was  very  much  at- 
tached to  the  doctor  who  had  brought  him 
123 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

from  a  long  and  serious  illness  into  health 
and  strength  again.  He  looked  at  Doctor 
Raymond  inquiringly  and  then  said, 

"You  ride  alone?" 

The  doctor  did  not  reply  at  once. 

"Did  you  expect  someone  to  be  with  me?" 
he  finally  asked. 

"Why  should  a  white  woman  be  left  in 
the  tent  of  Lozong?" 

"Yes,  why  should  she?"  repeated  the  doc- 
tor. As  he  had  journeyed  his  heart  had 
been  heavy,  but  now  he  decided  to  unbur- 
den it  to  a  few  of  his  friends  including  this 
young  Chinese  doctor. 

Four  of  them  came  at  his  bidding.  Each 
had  become  attached  to  this  stranger  by 
some  bond  of  service  or  some  common  sor- 
row. There  were  the  young  Chinese  doctor, 
the  Chinese  official  and  two  Tibetans,  one 
of  whom  had  helped  the  doctor  learn  the 
language  and  who  was  much  respected  by 
the  tribe  that  dwelt  in  the  little  town.  The 
other  was  an  old  herder,  of  whom  it  was  said 
that  he  had  been  a  robber  chief,  but  that  out 
124 


HOPELESS  HOPE 

of  his  gains  he  had  bought  his  tents  and  his 
flocks  and  was  now  leading  an  honest  life. 

Each  knew  why  he  was  called  and  all 
dreaded  the  task  which  they  knew  would  be 
given  them,  but  in  that  far  country  the  call 
of  a  white  man  is  usually  answered  as  the 
call  of  authority,  especially  when  it  comes 
from  a  benefactor  and  a  friend. 

The  story  John  Raymond  told  them  was 
simple  and  direct.  He  thought  that  he  sup- 
plied every  detail,  yet  after  the  manner  of 
Orientals  they  had  many  questions  to  ask 
regarding  the  situation.  One  of  their  ques- 
tions had  been  in  his  own  mind  continually. 

"Whence  came  she?  Who  is  this  fair 
woman  with  such  wonderful  skin  and  eyes? 
When  we  know  this  perhaps  somehow  we 
can  deal  with  Lozong." 

A  great  dread  came  over  the  Doctor,  the 
fear  which  had  hung  over  him  ever  since 
Lozong  had  declared,  "She  is  to  be  the  wife 
of  our  tent."  He  felt  driven  to  do  some- 
thing to  keep  her  from  this  awful  fate.  His 
125 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

counselors  sought  to  impress  upon  him  the 
magnitude  of  the  fight  upon  which  he  was 
entering.  "If  you  fight  Lozong,"  they  told 
him,  "it  will  either  result  in  your  death  or 
you  will  be  driven  from  Tibet."  The  Doc- 
tor made  no  comment,  but  the  question  came 
again,  "Is  the  life  of  one  woman  worth  more 
than  my  life  to  Tibet?" 

Silence  fell  upon  the  group  for  a  long 
while  after  the  problem  was  fully  stated,  then 
the  doctor  turned  to  the  Chinese  official. 

"No  one  questions  your  authority  with 
the  Chinese.  Go  and  find  out  from  that 
Chinese  woman  all  that  she  knows  about  this 
captive.  When  you  have  learned  that  come 
and  tell  me." 

And  to  the  old  Tibetan  chief  he  said, 

"You  know  the  ways  and  the  hiding  places 
of  Lozong,  for  you  yourself  have  made  the 
tracks  for  him.  Keep  your  nose  to  the 
ground  as  the  wolf  follows  the  scent,  keep 
your  ear  to  the  heavens  for  the  staying  of 
the  wind,  and  tell  me." 
126 


HOPELESS  HOPE 

To  the  young  Tibetan  and  the  Chinese 
doctor  he  said, 

"While  others  are  seeking  the  way,  to  us 
it  is  given  to  fight." 


127 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  WIFE  OF  THE  GODS 

WHEN  John  Raymond  left  the  mon- 
astery of  Babum,  Lozong  first  real- 
ized that  he  dreaded  to  face  Sylvia  Lambert. 
He  must  not  delay  in  making  her  the  wife 
of  the  tent,  for  he  knew  that  in  spite  of  his 
threat  the  fearless  doctor  would  be  sure  to 
try  to  rescue  her.  Lozong's  only  hope  of 
holding  her  for  his  own  was  to  make  her  the 
wife  at  once. 

He  went  to  the  little  room  where  her  cot 
had  been  placed.  It  was  the  first  time  he 
had  gone  there  alone  since  the  doctor's  com- 
ing. When  she  saw  him  alone  a  great  fear 
came  over  her. 

"Where  is  the  doctor?"  she  asked. 

Lozong  stood  silent.  There  was  no  jeer- 
ing in  his  manner,  for  he  had  a  feeling  for 
this  woman  different  than  he  had  ever  had 
128 


THE  WIFE  OF  THE  GODS 

for  any  other  human  being.  Her  weakness 
had  changed  his  passion  to  sympathy  and  to 
wonder  at  the  way  she  obeyed  his  will. 

"He  is  gone,"  he  at  last  replied.  "He 
was  called  away.  He  told  me  that  he  could 
not  remain  longer.  He  has  many  patients. 
They  await  him  at  the  hospital.  They  call 
him  everywhere." 

Weak  as  she  was,  the  whole  passion  of  her 
soul  flamed  and  she  raised  herself  on  her 
arm  as  she  cried, 

"It's  a  lie!  If  he  has  gone  you  have  sent 
him  away.  He  has  not  gone  of  his  own  free 
will  for  such  a  man  would  not  leave  me 
unless  you  had  harmed  him  or  forced  him 
to  go.  He  could  not  have  believed  what  I 
said." 

Lozong  was  silent.  This  woman  had  in- 
deed strange  power  over  him.  He  feared 
her,  yet  he  was  determined  that  his  will 
should  not  be  thwarted.  But  the  time  had 
not  yet  come  to  reveal  his  real  intentions,  so 
he  turned  abruptly  and  left  her. 

Lozong  went  at  once  to  the  abbot  to 
129 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

whose  room  he  always  had  entrance.  There 
was  no  formal  greeting  between  them. 

"Kembul,  you  know  our  intention,"  were 
his  first  words.  "The  time  has  come  when 
we  are  going  to  make  this  woman  the  wife 
of  our  tent.  We  want  a  ceremony  by  the 
priests.  This  is  the  custom  of  China  and  I 
am  told  it  is  the  custom  in  her  land.  My 
brothers  are  here.  True,  she  has  no  parents 
or  anyone  to  act  as  middleman  as  is  done  in 
China.  It  is  irregular  in  many  ways  but 
it  must  be  done  without  delay.  The  fact 
that  we  have  simply  stolen  her  after  the 
manner  of  Tibet  is  not  enough." 

There  was  a  look  of  determination  in  the 
abbot's  eyes  as  he  answered  Lozong. 

"No,  it  shall  not  be  done.  No  one  has  fol- 
lowed the  ways  of  Buddha  more  faithfully 
than  have  you,  but  I  decree  that  it  is  not 
the  will  of  the  gods  that  you  should  have  her. 
It  has  been  declared  to  me  that  she  shall  be 
the  wife  of  the  gods." 

Lozong's  anger  was  intense.  He  was 
130 


THE  WIFE  OF  THE  GODS 

astonished  for  he  had  never  heard  such  an 
amazing  proposition. 

"Kembul,  you  declare  that  she  shall  be 
the  wife  of  the  gods!  The  gods  have  no 
wives." 

"Ah,  you  know  the  pictures  show  that  they 
have  wives,  or  how  could  other  gods  be 
born?" 

He  pointed  to  a  frieze  that  covered  an 
entire  side  of  the  room  in  which  they  were 
standing.  On  the  frieze  was  pictured  the 
gods  relation  with  their  wives  and  the  birth 
of  other  gods.  "Can  you  deny  the  traditions. 
See  you  not  that  the  gods  have  wives?" 

The  abbot's  declaration  silenced  the  chief, 
for  he  was  a  good  Buddhist.  He  realized 
that  for  the  moment  he  was  outwitted  and 
that  if  there  was  to  be  a  ceremony  for  him 
it  could  not  be  at  this  time.  Without  further 
word  he  left  the  room  to  seek  his  brothers 
and  perhaps  even  enlist  the  help  of  the  for- 
eign woman  herself.  As  he  passed  out  into 
the  court  and  walked  towards  the  little  room 
131 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

where  she  had  been  lying,  one  of  the  brothers 
came  running  out. 

"She  is  gone !"  he  cried. 

"Gone?"  he  asked  as  though  he  could  not 
grasp  the  import  of  this. 

"Yes,  she  is  gone.  Has  the  foreign  doctor 
taken  her?" 

"No,"  answered  Lozong,  "a  heavier  hand 
than  that  of  the  doctor  is  upon  her."  He 
knew  at  once  that  the  abbot  had  acted 
swiftly  and  treacherously  in  his  own  brief 
absence  from  the  woman's  side. 

Standing  in  the  open  court,  in  a  loud  voice 
that  brought  many  of  the  Lamas  running 
from  the  various  temples,  Lozong  declared 
the  curses  of  Buddha  upon  the  monastery 
and  vowed  that  he  would  yet  have  his  woman. 
The  horses  were  brought  out  and  with  a 
parting  curse  he  led  the  way  from  the  mon- 
astery of  the  Red  Cap  sect. 

Sylvia  Lambert  had  been  lying  alone,  for 
the  Chinese  woman  had  left  her  side  to  pre- 
pare their  breakfast,  when  suddenly  an  open- 
132 


THE  WIFE  OF  THE  GODS 

ing  appeared  in  the  wall  immediately  back  of 
her.  A  heavy  bear  skin  was  thrown  over  her 
and  she  was  conscious  of  being  moved  while 
held  by  strong  hands.  With  great  effort  she 
was  finally  able  to  throw  the  blanket  from 
her  head  and  she  found  that  she  was  being 
carried  through  a  passage  as  black  as  night. 
She  felt  intuitively  that  Lozong  had  no  part 
in  this ;  that  somehow  she  had  fallen  into  the 
power  of  a  more  ruthless  force.  Suddenly 
from  out  of  the  darkness  she  was  taken  into 
a  large  room.  It  was  lighted  with  many 
lamps  and  the  air  was  heavy  with  incense. 
In  all  her  travels  in  this  strange  land  she  had 
not  seen  so  many  images  of  gods.  The  room 
was  not  high,  and  heavy  walnut  beams 
reached  out  like  great  black  arms  across  the 
ceiling.  The  golden  gods  seemed  to  move 
and  blink  at  her.  When  she  had  been 
brought  to  the  center  of  the  room  the  Lamas 
placed  her  facing  the  great  image  of 
Buddha.  Suddenly  a  light  gleamed  from 
the  lifeless  eyes  and  she  stared  fascinated  at 
the  great  hideous  figure. 
133 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

"Woman  from  another  land,"  uttered  a 
deep  voice  issuing  from  the  mouth  of  the 
golden  Buddha,  "you  have  said  that  you 
would  go  to  Lhasa.  Perhaps,  some  day,  it 
shall  be  given  to  you  to  go  to  the  sacred  city, 
for  you  are  to  be  the  wife  of  the  gods.  It  is 
given  to  you  to  know  Buddha  for  you  are 
to  be  the  wife  of  Buddha.  His  messengers 
come.  Arise." 

Sylvia  Lambert  did  not  move.  She  could 
not  arise,  not  only  on  account  of  her  illness 
but  because  of  fear.  Hands  grasped  her  and 
she  was  made  to  stand.  The  voice  continued, 

"Now  prostrate  yourself  before  Buddha." 

"I  will  not!"  came  the  cry  from  the  help- 
less woman's  lips  and  she  struggled  to  turn 
her  back  toward  the  speaking  image,  but  the 
hands  that  held  her  forced  her  to  her  knees, 
and  then  walls  seemed  to  lift,  and  from 
everywhere  came  dozens  of  Lamas,  each 
with  a  prayer  wheel  in  one  hand  and  a  bell 
in  the  other.  They  were  gorgeously  attired. 
The  abbot  came  from  behind  the  image  of 
Buddha  and  the  woman,  held  as  if  in  a  vice, 
134 


THE  WIFE  OF  THE  GODS 

with  her  face  to  the  floor  in  the  form  of  a 
kowtow,  prayed  that  death  might  come  to 
her.  Through  the  chanting  of  the  priests  she 
could  hear  the  mystic  prayers,  "Om  mani 
padme  hum."  Though  terrified,  she  longed 
to  look  up.  Then  came  the  command  to 
raise  her  head.  From  the  eyes  of  each  idol 
flamed  a  light  and  through  their  lips  came 
the  declaration  repeated  many  times  like  a 
chant,  "You  are  the  wife  of  the  gods." 


135 


CHAPTER  XIV 

A  RIGHTEOUS  ABBOT 

WHEN  Lozong  left  Babum  he  rode 
directly  across  the  mountain  to  the 
monastery  of  Sarnack,  of  the  Yellow  Cap 
sect,  whose  abbot  was  famed  for  his  goodness 
and  uprightness,  and  which  admitted  only 
those  priests  who  desired  to  live  a  holy  life. 
Lozong  was  a  friend  of  all  the  abbots  in 
eastern  Tibet,  for  he  brought  much  spoil  to 
their  temples,  but  he  had  never  dared  to  go 
to  the  abbot  of  Sarnack  except  with  that 
which  he  knew  would,  in  the  Tibetan  code, 
be  looked  upon  as  righteous  spoil. 

He  was  admitted  at  once.  The  abbot  was 
pleased  to  see  him,  for  he  had  heard  that  the 
chief  had  gone  to  Babum,  and  had  wondered 
whether  he  had  lost  Lozong  and  his  patron- 
age to  the  temple. 

"Lozong,  I  hear  a  strange  story  of  a  raid, 
136 


A  RIGHTEOUS  ABBOT 

of  a  foreign  woman  and  of  the  foreign 
doctor.  What  means  this?"  asked  the 
abbot. 

"Kembul,  it  means,  that  a  foreign  woman 
set  her  face  towards  Lhasa  and  I  felt  that 
it  was  not  the  will  of  Buddha  that  she  should 
enter  into  the  holy  sanctuaries  of  that  city." 

"You  are  right,  Lozong.  But  why  have 
you  not  delivered  her  to  the  foreign  doctor? 
Will  he  not  pledge  that  she  shall  turn  her 
face  from  the  west  and  journey  towards  the 
east,  towards  the  land  from  whence  she 
came?" 

"Yes,"  admitted  Lozong.  "He  has  made 
that  pledge,  but  know  you  that  she  is  to  be 
the  wife  of  our  tent  ?  I  have  come  to  you  this 
morning  because  of  the  fame  of  your  right- 
eousness and  purity.  I  am  a  robber  chief, 
yet  I  have  my  flocks,  my  tents,  and  my 
houses.  You  know  that  our  wife  is  dead,  and 
I  have  stolen  this  woman  so  that  she  shall  be 
our  wife.  I  took  her  to  Babum.  The 
foreign  doctor  came  and  healed  her.  The 
abbot  of  Babum  looked  upon  her  and  coveted 
137 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

her  and  announced  she  was  to  be  the  wife  of 
the  gods." 

"What !"  exclaimed  the  abbot.  "Has  that 
man  declared  so  boldly  that  which  they  prac- 
tice in  secret?  Some  of  us  are  living  accord- 
ing to  the  precepts  of  Buddha,  some  of  us 
are  seeking  to  follow  the  holy  life  of  medita- 
tion, but  one  man  like  this  brings  evil  and  ill 
repute  to  us  all.  It  shall  not  be.  That 
woman  shall  be  taken  from  yonder  monas- 
tery. Ah,  I  have  waited  these  many  years 
to  strike  this  blow.  Three  centuries  ago 
others  prepared  for  this  hour  in  a  way  he 
knows  not  of,  for  while  they  sleep  we  shall 
enter  and  no  walls  shall  prevent  it.  Then 
he  leaned  close  to  Lozong  and  his  eyes 
glistened  in  the  light  of  the  lamp  as  he 
whispered,  "See  ye  not  the  wall  that  sur- 
rounds this  monastery?  Wonder  ye  not  at 
the  hill  which  lies  in  back  of  it  ?  From  yon- 
der big  room,  if  you  but  lift  a  tile  of  the  floor, 
a  horse  will  strike  a  road  as  smooth  as  this 
floor.  True,  for  many  years  the  bats  and 
snakes  have  gathered  there,  but  it  leads 
138 


A  RIGHTEOUS  ABBOT 

directly  to  the  cave  of  Babum.  The  watch- 
man waits  outside.  A  dozen  men  can  lift 
the  floor,  or  if  it  cannot  be  lifted  the  timbers 
can  be  cut  away,  and  then  we  will  go  to 
where  the  woman  is  hidden.  I  know  every 
foot  of  yonder  monastery.  Two  watchmen 
wait,  one  outside  and  one  in  the  tower.  To- 
night while  they  sleep,  the  interior  of  the 
secret  room  of  Babum  will  be  destroyed. 
Of  course  no  image  of  Buddha  must  be 
touched." 

Accustomed  though  he  was  to  rallying 
men,  Lozong,  as  he  followed  the  old  abbot 
during  the  day,  marveled  at  the  generalship 
which  he  displayed.  They  were  not  priests 
who  sallied  forth  that  night,  although  every 
head  bore  the  mark  of  the  vow  the  man  had 
taken.  It  was  an  army  of  fifty  men,  picked 
and  hardened,  men  who  knew  they  had  a 
battle  to  fight,  and  who  understood  the  dan- 
ger. 

Nearing  the  cave  which  was  the  entrance 
to  the  Lamasery  of  Babum,  Lozong  and  the 
priests  dismounted  and  tried  the  floor,  but 
139 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

found  it  could  not  be  raised.  However, 
they  soon  cut  it  away  and  with  a  great  crash 
the  rocks  fell  out.  The  noise  was  not  heard 
within  the  temple  for  the  cave  entrance  was 
far  from  the  sleeping  chambers.  Only  the 
watchman  ran  forward  and  peered  into  the 
deep  hole,  but  a  hand  reached  out  in  the 
darkness  and  grasped  him  and  he  was  silent. 
Quietly  they  raised  themselves  to  the  floor 
that  gave  access  to  the  monastery. 

The  old  abbot,  who  had  laid  aside  his  robe 
of  office  for  a  dress  of  skins,  stood  with  the 
chief  waiting  until  the  little  band  had  sur- 
rounded them.  Then  Lozong  spoke. 

"Kembul,"  he  addressed  the  abbot,  "I 
have  one  request  to  make,  and  that  is  that 
we  let  the  Chinese  woman  alone.  Take  the 
white  woman.  Then  we  shall  fare  forth  and 
no  priest  will  dare  to  follow." 

"We  will  take  the  Chinese  woman  from 
the  clutches  of  these  evil  men  and  leave  her 
on  the  road,  then  she  can  find  her  way  to 
some  of  her  kind,"  was  the  abbot's  reply. 
140 


A  RIGHTEOUS  ABBOT 

The  abbot  gave  the  command.  "Take 
the  white  woman." 

Silently  they  moved  forward  to  the  quar- 
ters of  the  abbot  of  Babum.  "She  sleeps 
in  the  room  adjoining  Kembul's  quarters," 
said  Lozong. 

Creeping  close  to  a  wall  they  saw  a  light 
in  one  of  the  rooms,  where  the  Chinese 
woman  was  attending  Sylvia  Lambert,  for 
the  ceremony  of  the  day  had  brought  about 
a  return  of  the  fever.  Lozong  himself 
stepped  forward.  He  felt  he  would  now  be 
welcome.  Placing  his  hand  over  his  lips  to 
indicate  no  outcry  he  strode  directly  towards 
her.  Then  he  put  his  hand  over  the  mouth 
of  the  Chinese  woman  and  commanded  one 
of  the  Lamas  of  his  party  to  bind  her. 

The  old  abbot  came  forward  and  declared, 

"It  is  not  enough  that  we  take  this  woman 
from  him.  The  abbot  of  Babum  must  pay." 

He  gave  a  command  and  moving  forward 
with  axes  and  spears  in  their  hands,  his  fol- 
lowers entered  the  abbot's  room. 

"The  vengeance  of  Buddha  is  upon  you," 
141 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

cried  the  abbot  of  Sarnack,  "because  unholy 
motives  are  in  your  heart." 

The  frightened  abbot  lifted  his  voice  in 
a  single  outcry  and  reaching  out  struck  a  bell 
close  at  hand.  Its  sharp  clanging  note  had 
scarcely  ceased  when  a  hundred  doors  sprang 
open  and  the  temple  was  in  wild  confusion. 
But  the  men  from  Sarnack  were  ready, 
while  the  others,  half  clad  and  half  asleep, 
fought  against  tremendous  odds. 

After  the  terrible  day  through  which  she 
had  passed  Sylvia  Lambert  was  thankful 
for  the  coming  of  Lozong.  She  feared  him, 
but  these  filthy,  shaven-headed  priests, 
smeared  with  butter,  were  to  her  the  most 
horrible  creatures  she  had  ever  encountered. 
The  Chinese  woman  had  whispered  to  her 
awful  tales  she  had  heard,  and  now  as  she 
lay  alone  listening  to  the  fight,  she  prayed 
for  Lozong  and  believed  that  every  blow 
was  being  struck  in  her  defense.  Her  pray- 
ers were  answered — or  was  it  the  will  of  the 
gods — for  the  Lamas  of  Babum  were  being 
142 


A  RIGHTEOUS  ABBOT 

worsted  in  the  fight.  The  abbot  himself 
lay  in  a  heap  on  the  floor,  unconscious  from 
a  blow.  The  abbot  of  Sarnack  bowed  low 
before  the  statue  of  Buddha,  from  whose  lips 
had  issued  the  statement  that  the  foreign 
woman  had  been  made  Jhe  wife  of  the  gods, 
and  prayed,  "Om  mani  padme  hum.  Your 
purity,  your  meditations,  your  purposes  are 
exalted."  To  Lozong  he  said,  "We  go  now. 
Take  the  Chinese  woman  with  you  to  the 
road." 

The  doors  of  the  cave  were  opened  and 
Lozong  and  his  band  rode  out  into  the  night. 
Again  Sylvia  Lambert  was  swung  across 
Lozong's  saddle.  The  brothers  took  the 
Chinese  woman  to  the  road  and  unloosed  and 
left  her  there.  Before  riding  out,  however, 
the  floor  leading  to  the  secret  passage  had 
been  placed  intact. 

As  Lozong  rode  on  through  the  night, 
feeling  the  weight  of  the  now  unconscious 
woman  against  him,  he  lifted  his  eyes  to  the 
silent  stars  that  seemed  such  close  neigh- 
bors to  him  there  on  the  roof  of  the  world, 
143 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

and  said,  "It  must  be  the  will  of  the  gods 
that  she  shall  be  the  wife  of  our  tent." 

The  old  abbot  of  Sarnack  had  returned 
through  the  darkness.  The  wrath  of 
Buddha  had  come  with  tremendous  force 
upon  Babum  as  a  punishment  for  its  im- 
purity. 


144. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   CHINESE   MESSENGER 

THE  Chinese  woman  had  been  deserted 
only  a  few  rods  from  the  door  of  the 
temple.  She  tried  to  follow  the  horsemen, 
but  they  rode  too  rapidly  for  her  to  keep  up 
with  them,  and  throwing  herself  in  the  grass 
she  wept  in  despair.  Alone  in  the  darkness, 
she  waited  wide-eyed,  thinking  someone 
would  return  for  her.  Finally  she  decided 
that  there  was  but  one  place  to  go  for  help 
and  that  was  to  the  foreign  doctor.  She 
knew  that  Lozong  had  sent  him  from  the 
monastery  and  that  he  had  ridden  away. 
She  had  heard  the  raiders  in  the  night  and 
was  glad  that  it  was  Lozong  who  had  come, 
for  she  knew  that  he  was  more  to  be  trusted 
than  the  priests,  but  now  he  had  separated 
her  from  her  mistress,  to  whom  she  had  be- 
145 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

come  devoted  in  these  days  of  adventure  and 
distress. 

When  the  morning  light  crept  over  the 
eastern  hills  she  made  her  way  to  a  group 
of  tents  that  stood  beside  the  little  stream 
in  the  valley.  Inquiring  if  they  knew  where 
she  could  find  some  of  her  race,  she  was  di- 
rected to  one  who  kept  a  little  store.  She 
went  to  this  man  and  told  her  story.  It 
was  not  new  to  him;  already  he  had  heard 
of  the  expulsion  of  the  doctor  from  Babum 
and  of  all  the  principal  events  that  had  been 
transpiring  in  the  monastery.  He  readily 
offered  to  help  her,  for  there  is  no  race  more 
willing  to  lend  aid  to  its  people  than  the 
Chinese.  Calling  one  of  his  servants  he  or- 
dered two  of  his  Mongolian  ponies,  and,  with 
the  servant  trotting  along  behind,  rode  with 
the  woman  to  the  little  town  where  Dr.  Ray- 
mond lived.  He  pointed  out  a  group  of 
houses  on  the  far  hillside,  then  left  her,  with 
the  parting  injunction  to  urge  the  white 
man  to  act  quickly. 

The  doctor  was  busy  about  his  work  when 
146 


THE  CHINESE  MESSENGER 

she  entered  his  little  courtyard.  He  knew 
at  once  that  something  had  happened,  for 
here  was  the  woman  to  whom  he  had  sent 
messengers  and  she  came  alone.  Could  the 
foreign  woman  have  escaped?  But  the 
many  questions  that  rushed  through  his 
mind  were  soon  answered. 

"After  you  left  Babum,  the  abbot  de- 
clared that  she  was  selected  to  be  the  wife  of 
the  gods.  She  fainted  during  a  long  cere- 
mony which  they  forced  her  to  go  through, 
and  then  in  the  night  Lozong  and  his  men 
came  out  of  the  earth  itself  and  took  her 
away  and  I  know  not  where  they  have  gone." 

Under  the  stress  of  his  emotions  John 
Raymond  was  silent.  He  was  somewhat  re- 
lieved by  knowing  that  Lozong  had  taken 
her  from  the  priests,  but  his  face  was  set 
and  hard. 

"Come  with  me  into  the  guest  room,"  were 
his  first  words. 

Sitting  opposite  her  at  a  little  table,  he 
said: 

147 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

"Now  tell  me  all  that  you  know  about  this 
foreign  woman." 

She  told  him  Sylvia's  Chinese  name  and 
then  as  best  she  could  repeated  the  English 
name.  She  dwelt  upon  her  mistress's  vir- 
tues and  kindness.  By  allowing  her  to  talk 
freely  he  gradually  learned  that  she  was  a 
woman  of  wealth,  that  she  had  an  insatiable 
desire  to  go  to  Lhasa,  that  she  had  spent  four 
years  in  the  study  of  the  Chinese  and 
Tibetan  languages  and  that  she  had  been 
entertained  at  the  courts  at  Peking.  He 
learned  of  the  raid,  of  the  march  through 
the  night  to  reach  him,  and  with  every  sen- 
tence he  marveled  more  and  more  at  the  won- 
derful courage  of  Sylvia  Lambert. 

When  the  Chinese  woman  had  finished 
her  story  he  called  in  the  group  of  advisors 
that  had  met  the  day  before. 

"Listen  to  this  story,  this  is  all  that  we 
want  to  know." 

Then  he  went  away  to  be  alone.  He  was 
'trying  to  decide  whether  he  should  organ- 
ize a  rescue  party.  "Lozong  has  a  thou- 
148 


THE  CHINESE  MESSENGER 

sand  enemies,"  he  thought,  "and  they  are 
among  those  whom  I  have  treated.  Shall 
I  lead  a  party  against  him?"  But  he  knew 
that  if  he  did  his  hospital  would  later  be 
destroyed  in  revenge.  Another  way  must 
be  sought. 

"You  must  not  do  this,"  he  reasoned  with 
himself,  "for  Lozong  has  sent  word  down  the 
valley  that  if  you  lift  your  hand  it  will  mean 
the  end  of  your  work  and  perhaps  your  life. 
We  will  try  in  our  own  way  to  find  her." 

Raymond  sat  with  lips  pressed  tightly  to- 
gether. 

"My  work  is  the  biggest  thing  in  my  life," 
he  said.  "This  woman  is  nothing  to 

me "  then  he  stopped.  "But  it  is  a  part 

of  my  work  to  help  those  who  are  in  trouble," 
he  continued,  "and  this  woman  of  my  own 
race  is  alone  in  this  strange  land.  I  must 
go  to  her.  Oh,  that  there  was  a  government 
to  whom  I  could  appeal  but  in  a  land  like 
this  there  is  no  government  but  the  priests 
and  robber  chiefs  like  Lozong." 

"You  must  find  Lozong,"  urged  John 
149 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

Raymond  as  he  came  back  to  the  little  group 
of  men.  "You  must  find  his  tent  in  the 
mountains.  Then  I  will  go  to  him.  Lo- 
zong  is  courageous  and  will  play  fair  with 
courage." 

John  Raymond  had  not  realized  how  much 
his  work  had  become  a  part  of  the  life  of 
these  simple  people  of  the  hills,  until  he 
mingled  with  them  in  his  search  for  Lozong. 
He  found  that  many  who  had  been  treated 
in  his  clinic  were  friends  indeed  when  they 
learned  whom  he  was  seeking  and  that  he 
was  in  danger.  Although  fearing  the 
Tibetan  chief  they  wanted  to  help  this  man 
who  had  smiled  while  he  relieved  their  pain; 
who  had  encouraged  and  inspired  them  and 
given  them  a  new  faith.  In  their  tents  and 
their  little  mud  houses,  and  often  tucked 
away  in  their  belts  with  their  beads,  or  hang- 
ing from  their  prayer  wheels,  or  in  their 
charm  boxes  which  contained  pieces  of  a 
lama's  dress  or  hair,  he  knew  there  were 
copies  of  the  gospels  he  had  either  given  or 
sold  to  them  at  the  hospital.  From  numer- 
150 


THE  CHINESE  MESSENGER 

ous  signs  he  recognized  the  influence  of  his 
work,  and  each  sign  made  it  clearer  that  he 
must  remain  in  Tibet  to  fight  the  battles  of 
this  people  who  so  needed  help. 

At  last  he  found  the  trail  that  led  to  Lo- 
zong's  hiding  place.  It  was  not  a  direct 
trail,  but  he  was  told  the  vicinity  and  to 
look  for  the  tent  of  a  nomad.  When  night 
approached  he  took  a  long  leash  and  staked 
his  horse  close  to  the  spot  where  he  meant 
to  rest  that  night.  Wrapping  himself  in  a 
great  skin  he  lay  down  but  not  to  sleep.  The 
stars  above  him  brought  thoughts  of  home. 
They  seemed  to  urge  him  to  follow  the  trail 
and  find  the  woman,  and  take  her  to  Amer- 
ica. He  realized  that  with  his  medical  ex- 
perience gained  in  these  years  of  service  of 
every  kind  he  might  in  America  become  fa- 
mous and  perhaps  even  he  who  had  always 
lived  in  the  wilds  could  win  such  a  woman 
for  his  own.  But  he  remembered  the 
Savior's  temptation  in  the  mountain,  and 
knew  that  this  longing  was  prompted  only 
by  the  selfish  side  of  his  nature  and  not  by 
151 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

the  needs  of  Tibet,  the  diseases  that  were 
rife,  and  the  hopeless  and  colorless  lives  these 
people  lived.  He  knew  that  their  souls 
were  rich  in  the  desire  for  worship.  He  had 
already  seen  marvelous  possibilities  in  those 
who  had  come  under  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

Throwing  aside  the  skin  that  covered  him, 
he  stood  up  praying.  His  face  was  turned 
toward  home  and  toward  the  heavens  above. 

"God  save  Tibet,"  he  prayed,  "save  it 
from  the  Lamas,  save  it  from  its  supersti- 
tion, save  it  from  Buddha.  God  save  this 
woman  if  it  be  Thy  will,  but  not  for  me. 
I  am  Thy  messenger  and  my  life  is  given 
to  Tibet  now  and  forever  more." 


152 


CHAPTER  XVI 

WHAT  MEANETH  LOVE? 

TWO  days  from  the  monastery  of  Ba- 
bum  was  a  hiding  place  known  only  to 
Lozong  and  the  eagles.  A  cave  ran  back  into 
the  heart  of  a  mountain,  and  by  order  of  Lo- 
zong a  black  tent  was  always  pitched  at  its 
entrance.  If  seemed  to  be  the  home  of  a 
nomad,  for  flocks  grazed  on  the  surrounding 
hillside.  To  this  far  place  Lozong  came 
when  hard  pressed.  He  knew  he  would 
have  to  remain  in  hiding  after  the  raid  on 
the  monastery  and  when  the  foreign  doctor 
learned  what  had  happened,  so  he  took  his 
captive  to  this  farthest  recess  of  the  moun- 
tain fastness. 

He  carried  her  while  she  was  unconscious, 
but  when  she  was  strong  enough  to  ride 
alone,  placed  her  with  some  attendants  for 
the  long  ride  to  the  hiding  place. 
153 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

Sylvia  Lambert  never  forgot  her  first 
view  of  the  surrounding  country  when  they 
reached  the  lonely  tent  more  than  ten  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea's  level,  and  sur- 
rounded by  snow-covered  peaks.  There 
were  dense  woods  of  fir  trees,  and  great  rocks 
that  caught  the  glint  of  the  sun's  rays,  and 
a  vastness  of  space  that  made  her  think  of 
eternity. 

The  entrance  to  the  cave  faced  the  west, 
and  sitting  at  the  tent's  opening  she  imag- 
ined that  the  bar  of  light  in  the  far  distance, 
all  that  remained  of  the  sun  before  it  disap- 
peared in  the  embrace  of  the  farthest  moun- 
tains, was  the  golden  roof  of  the  Potala  at 
Lhasa,  although  she  knew  it  was  hundreds 
of  miles  beyond  the  range  of  vision. 

Lozong  brought  some  great  yak,  bear  and 
wolf  skins  with  which  he  arranged  a  bed. 
The  servant  had  been  sent  out,  and  to  the 
tsambe  and  crude  butter  diet  had  been  added 
some  Chinese  food. 

As  he  had  not  made  any  declaration  re- 
garding his  purpose,  she  asked  him  why  he 
154 


WHAT  MEANETH  LOVE? 

had  not  brought  the  Chinese  woman,  and 
what  had  become  of  her. 

Lozong's  answer  was  brief  and  truthful. 

"It  would  not  have  been  wise  to  bring 
her." 

He  never  pushed  aside  the  curtain  which 
they  had  hung  before  her  door.  He  had 
only  once  addressed  her. 

"You  must  get  well  now,"  he  said. 

Whenever  the  smoke  of  the  fire  in  the  tent 
drove  her  out  into  the  open,  Lozong  was 
there.  She  wondered  at  the  quiet  way  in 
which  he  commanded  his  men  and  the  court- 
liness of  his  manner  when  addressing  her. 

She  was  not  the  only  one  who  noticed  this. 
The  brothers  said  to  each  other, 

"He  has  never  been  like  this  before.  In 
all  his  life  he  has  never  treated  a  human 
being  as  he  does  this  woman.  Why  is  he 
so  gentle  with  her?  Is  he  afraid  of  her?" 

Lozong  also  marveled  at  himself.  Wak- 
ing and  sleeping  she  was  in  his  mind.  His 
desire  was  not  alone  to  hold  her  as  the  wife 
of  the  tent,  but  to  know  and  understand 
155 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

her.  He  had  seen  her  smile  when  the  doc- 
tor came  and  he  hoped  that  she  would  smile 
upon  him  in  that  way. 

The  days  sped  on  until  nearly  a  week  had 
passed  and  the  woman  asked  herself,  again 
and  again: 

"Where  is  he,  the  only  man  of  my  race 
and  kind  in  this  far  country?  Where  is  he 
while  I  am  here  alone?  How  could  he  be- 
lieve what  I  told  him  in  Tibetan?  He  must 
have  known  I  was  only  trying  to  save  him." 

One  morning  Sylvia  Lambert  walked 
alone  on  the  mountain  side  to  reflect  and 
pray.  At  home  prayer  had  been  an  inci- 
dental thing,  but  out  at  the  edge  of  the  world 
she  had  realized  the  nearness  of  God.  Turn- 
ing her  face  in  the  direction  from  which  she 
thought  the  doctor  would  come,  for  she  was 
confident  he  would  come,  she  prayed  for  de- 
liverance. 

Lozong,  as  usual,  had  followed  her.    She 

was  conscious  that  she  never  moved  from  the 

tent  without  some  eye  upon  her,  and  usually 

ii  was  he  who  watched.     This  was  the  first 

156 


WHAT  MEANETH  LOVE? 

time,  however,  that  he  had  come  to  sit  be- 
side her  and  she  felt  that  he  had  something 
of  importance  to  say. 

"Woman  of  the  West,"  said  Lozong,  "the 
time  has  come  when  you  and  I  must  under- 
stand each  other.  I  have  spoken  with  the 
abbot  of  Sarnack,  and  he  has  said  that  he, 
himself,  will  come  to  our  tent  and  make  you 
our  wife.  This  is  your  custom  and  the  cus- 
tom of  China.  By  our  custom  you  are  al- 
ready our  wife.  He  is  a  good  man.  If  it 
had  not  been  for  him,  you  would  still  be  in 
the  hands  of  those  Lamas  of  the  monastery 
of  Babum,  but  the  abbot  of  Sarnack  has 
delivered  you  to  me,  and  now  I  say  to  you 
that  the  time  is  not  far  away  when  you  must 
come  to  our  tent  as  our  wife." 

There  was  no  note  of  threat  in  what  Lo- 
zong said.  He  spoke  quietly  but  with  final- 
ity. Every  nerve  in  her  body  quivered  and 
she  felt  that  it  was  going  to  be  almost  im- 
possible to  battle  alone  against  his  desires 
and  the  terrible  future  which  this  man  was 
preparing  for  her.  Her  despair  can  scarcely 
157 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

be  imagined.  She  reached  out  her  hands  to 
him  and  begged: 

"Oh,  save  me,  Lozong!  I  will  give  up 
going  to  Lhasa,  though  it  was  the  fondest 
dream  of  my  heart.  Will  you  not  save  me  ?" 

He  merely  shook  his  head. 

"I  suppose  it  is  the  manner  of  your  women 
to  beg,"  he  finally  said.  "But  you  might  as 
well  make  up  your  mind  to  be  the  wife  of 
our  tent." 

In  utter  despair  she  sprang  to  her  feet. 

"You  see  that  precipice  yonder!"  she 
cried.  "The  moment  you,  or  your  broth- 
ers, try  to  take  me  to  your  tent  as  your  wife, 
that  moment  I  will  go  over  the  cliff." 

Lozong  stood  up  and  smiled  cynically. 
He  wanted  her  but  that  which  made  him  a 
good  Buddhist  also  led  him  to  discern  that 
she  was  suffering. 

"If  there  were  any  other  way  out,"  he 
said,  "your  pain  would  half  persuade  me  to 
take  you  across  the  hills;  but  why  should 
not  our  races  mingle?  You  have  told  me 
that  you  seek  Lhasa  wholly  because  of  your 
158 


WHAT  MEANETH  LOVE? 

love  of  adventure.  Could  you  not  be  happy 
in  dwelling  here?  True,  our  religions  are 
different  and  your  code  of  life  is  unlike  ours, 
but  perhaps  each  can  change  somewhat  and 
all  will  be  well.  Perhaps  instead  of  being 
the  wife  of  many,  you  could  be  the  wife  of 
one,  as  are  women  in  your  land  and  some 
women  here.  The  eagle  follows  the  path 
yonder  to  the  mountain  heights  and  then  he 
can  fly.  Man  can  follow  the  path  to  the 
crest  of  the  mountain,  but  then  he  must  re- 
turn, for  the  precipice  is  beyond  and  he 
cannot  fly;  so  we  have  come  to  the  crest  of 
the  mountain.  What  way  is  there,  I  ask 
you,  other  than  for  you  to  remain  in  Tibet? 
If  you  turn  westward,  other  robbers  may 
kill  you,  and  why  should  you  die  ?  A  woman 
such  as  you  could  find  life  in  the  tent  of 
Lozong.  Lozong  can  take  you  to  Lhasa. 
Lozong  can  let  your  eyes  look  upon  the 
Potala." 

Sylvia  was  amazed  at  this  long  speech 
from  Lozong,  for  he  usually  spoke  briefly. 
159 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

She  began  to  see  deeper  into  his  soul  and 
listened  with  wonder  to  his  pleading. 

"I  could  be  your  servant,"  she  finally  said. 
"But  you  must  let  me  think.  The  hills  are 
locked  as  if  a  great  bolt  covered  the  door. 
I  cannot  get  away.  My  only  companion 
with  whom  it  was  possible  for  me  to  travel, 
you  have  taken  from  me.  Evidently  you 
have  hidden  me  so  that  the  doctor  cannot 
find  me,  or  he  would  have  been  here  before 
this.  Oh,  I  beg  of  you  one  thing,  if  I  am 
to  be  made  the  wife  of  your  tent,  delay  it  for 
a  little  while.  Let  me  work  as  a  servant, 
and  then  when  the  years  shall  have  rolled 
around,  you  will  not  be  sorry  that  you  have 
convinced  rather  than  forced  me." 

"I  know  that  you  hope  to  find  some  way 
of  escape,  and  you  plead  for  time  only  for 
that  purpose,  but  I  tell  you  that  cannot  be. 
There  is  no  way  of  escape.  You  may  serve 
in  the  tent  for  a  time  if  you  will.  My  horse- 
man will  teach  you  how  to  make  tsambe  and 
butter  tea,  for  in  this  land  everyone  works." 

Clad  in  the  dress  of  a  Tibetan  woman,  for 
160 


WHAT  MEANETH  LOVE? 

they  had  brought  her  the  garments  of  the 
wife  who  had  died,  she  worked  as  a  servant 
in  the  tent.  Her  duties  were  simple,  for 
she  had  only  to  clean  the  tent  and  cook  the 
food.  There  was  no  washing.  The  gar- 
ments of  the  Tibetans  are  never  washed. 
She  introduced  some  western  customs,  and 
Lozong  tried  to  adapt  himself  to  this  new 
manner  of  life,  but  the  younger  brothers  re- 
sented any  change  from  the  old  and  often 
jeered  at  her.  Once  while  Lozong  was 
away,  one  of  them  threatened  her.  Though 
a  man  of  passion,  the  chief  held  himself  in 
restraint.  But  this  younger  brother  was 
brutal  and  uncontrolled. 

One  night  she  heard  him  talking  to  Lo- 
zong. 

"There  must  be  no  further  delay,"  he  said. 
"This  woman  must  be  our  wife,  and  why 
should  we  delay  longer?  We  feed  her.  If 
we  are  not  to  have  her  we  must  arrange  for 
another." 

'Under  pressure  of  the  brother's  urging, 
Lozong  again  came  to  Sylvia  Lambert. 
161 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

"You  have  threatened  that  from  yonder 
mountain  you  would  find  death  should  we 
make  you  become  our  wife,  but  while  you 
shall  not  walk  in  the  paths  of  old,  I  prom- 
ise you  that  no  one  shall  live  as  well  as  you." 

After  this  new  appeal  she  patiently  ex- 
plained to  him  the  standards  of  America, 
that  a  man  wins  a  woman  for  his  wife  and 
that  she  has  the  right  of  choice  as  well  as  the 
man — they  must  select  each  other  because 
of  love  and  respect. 

"Ah,  but  the  woman  has  rights  in  Tibet," 
replied  Lozong. 

"Yes,  but  it  is  not  the  right  of  love." 

While  nervously  and  eagerly  talking  with 
him  of  love,  though  her  language  was  stum- 
bling, she  made  him  understand  that  a  mar- 
riage was  an  arrangement  which  could  only 
be  founded  upon  love.  She  saw  a  new  light 
dawn  in  his  eyes  and  wondered  if  he  under- 
stood. As  he  left  her  he  said: 

"I  do  not  want  you  to  die,  but  I  am  afraid 
that  young  devil  of  a  brother  of  mine  would 
not  let  you  live  if  you  do  not  become  our 
162 


WHAT  MEANETH  LOVE? 

wife."     He  reached  his  hands  out  to  her, 
with  palms  upturned. 

"Can  you  not  believe  that  Lozong  is  not 
all  bad?  Can  you  not  believe  that  Lozong 
is  seeking  to  follow  the  will  of  Buddha? 
Yes,  more  than  that,  Woman  of  the  West, 
Lozong  does  not  know  the  meaning  of  the 
word  'love'  as  you  interpret  it,  but  he  knows 
respect.  Can  you  not  believe  that  he  would 
like  to  serve  you?  When  there  are  two 
roads  which  one  shall  Lozong  take?" 


163 


CHAPTER  XVII 

A  VISIT  TO  THE  HIDING  PLACE 

ONE  morning  Sylvia  Lambert  did  not 
throw  back  the  bear  skins  covering  her. 
The  chief  had  been  very  anxious,  for  dur- 
ing the  night  he  had  heard  her  murmur  and 
talk  in  the  strange  language  which  she  had 
used  in  her  delirium  while  in  the  monastery. 
The  fear  that  had  been  growing  upon  her 
for  days  had  culminated  in  a  condition  which 
Lozong  did  not  understand  though  he  knew 
it  was  no  passing  illness.  When  conscious-, 
ness  returned,  she  smiled  up  into  his  face 
and  said, 

"Lozong,  I  am  sick  again.  The  remedies 
we  have  here  will  not  cure  me.  Unless  you 
let  me  go  to  his  hospital  I  think  it  is  almost 
useless  to  again  send  for  the  doctor.  How- 
ever you,  might  try." 

"No,  he  cannot  come  here,"  said  Lozong. 
164 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  HIDING  PLACE 

"No  one  knows  the  path  to  this  tent.  In 
the  darkness  of  the  night  we  drop  out  of  the 
clouds.  As  much  as  I  want  you  to  live,  I 
think  it  would  be  better  for  you  to  die  than 
to  send  for  him  again.  He  is  close  up  on 
the  trail — nearer  than  any  man  has  ever  been 
before.  He  rides  unarmed  and  alone. 
Such  courage  have  only  the  gods  themselves. 
Yesterday  he  was  not  far  away  but  he  has 
been  turned  off  the  trail." 

Lozong  left  her,  to  go  into  the  open  to 
battle  with  himself.  He  did  not  want  her 
to  die,  even  though  she  would  not  be  his. 

"But  why  should  that  doctor  continually 
cross  my  path?"  he  asked.  Long  ago  he  had 
said  to  the  Lama, 

"You  and  your  doctors  cannot  help  her." 

He  called  his  brothers  about  him. 

"That  foreign  doctor  knows  that  she  is  in 
our  tent.  If  we  should  let  her  die  here, 
perhaps  the  hand  of  China  would  reach  out 
as  our  enemy  because  a  foreign  woman  had 
died  in  our  tent.  This  cannot  be.  As  much 
as  we  do  not  want  it,  I  think  we  had  better 
165 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

send  for  the  doctor.  Last  night  he  rested 
in  the  house  of  a  Chinese,  less  than  six  hours 
away." 

The  younger  brother  volunteered  to  go  in 
search  of  him.  Lozong  looked  at  him  for 
a  long  time. 

"You  have  acted  strangely  of  late,"  he 
said.  "Our  family  has  never  quarreled,  and 
speaking  as  the  older  brother  and  head  of  the 
family,  I  hope  we  will  continue  to  live  in 
peace.  Do  not  let  that  temper  of  yours 
lead  you  astray,  but  go  for  the  doctor  and 
let  me  deal  with  him.  He  and  I  understand 
each  other." 

Lozong,  watching  the  younger  brother 
ride  away,  was  not  sure  that  he  could  trust 
him. 

The  doctor  knew  that  Lozong  and  his 
messengers  had  been  leaving  the  main  trail 
near  a  certain  point,  and  from  there  he  fol- 
lowed paths  leading  to  many  tents.  After 
a  fruitless  search  he  returned  to  the  open,  to 
be  greeted  by  the  younger  brother's  mes- 
sage, 

166 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  HIDING  PLACE 

"Our  wife  is  sick,"  was  the  messenger's 
wrord. 

The  doctor  staggered  from  his  saddle. 

"They  have  overcome  her,"  he  thought. 
"And  she  is  ill  again.  Has  she  been  lost 
tome?  If  she  has 

And  at  that  moment  the  full  passion  of  his 
nature  swept  over  him. 

"If  she  has,  though  I  give  my  life  for  it, 
Lozong  shall  pay." 

They  had  followed  the  trail  for  some  dis- 
tance before  the  brother  spoke, 

"Lozong  orders  that  you  shall  not  come 
with  your  eyes  open,  so  I  must  blindfold 
you.  Men  have  been  taken  to  our  tent,  but 
they  have  always  gone  through  darkness  or 
with  eyes  closed  to  the  sun." 

The  doctor  remonstrated,  even  tried  to  re- 
sist, but  the  brother  only  spurned  him. 
"You  may  fight  if  you  will,  but  that  will  not 
take  you  to  her.  You  may  kill  me  but  that 
only  closes  the  door,  and  during  every  mo- 
ment that  you  delay  she  is  growing  worse. 
Of  course  I  am  anxious  to  save  our  wife,  for 
167 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

no  tent  in  Tibet  has  one  to  equal  her,  and 
I  know  you  too  are  anxious  to  save  the  life 
of  this  woman  of  your  race,  so  why  delay?" 

The  doctor  recognized  the  truth  of  the 
argument  and  submitted  to  the  binding  of 
the  coarse  cloth  about  his  eyes,  but  when  the 
brother  took  the  long  rope  to  lead  the  horse, 
a  doubt  crept  into  his  mind  as  to  whether 
he  was  really  being  taken  to  the  woman  who 
was  ill  or  whether  this  man  was  not  an  ex- 
cuse to  lead  him  into  a  trap  and  perhaps  to 
death.  They  were  riding  rapidly,  and  in  the 
darkness  of  his  bound  eyes  it  seemed  a  long 
time  before  he  heard  voices  and  knew  that 
his  horse  was  being  led  to  the  entrance  of  a 
tent. 

A  firm  hand  removed  the  cloth  from  his 
eyes  and  a  quiet  voice  told  him  to  alight  from 
his  horse.  He  turned  to  face  Lozong. 
There  was  no  demonstration,  for  both  men 
realized  that  the  doctor's  help  was  urgent 
and  John  Raymond  knew  that  again  neces- 
sity had  driven  the  chief  to  send  for  him. 

"We  know  of  your  search,"  said  the  chief, 
168 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  HIDING  PLACE 

without  the  usual  greeting.  "The  whisper- 
ing winds  and  the  clearest  call  of  the  night 
have  told  us  of  your  coming.  No  other 
man  has  ever  ventured  so  near.  I  need  not 
tell  you  that  we  are  now  desperate.  You 
must  not  communicate  with  her  in  any  way 
whatever.  I  will  ask  her  anything  you  wish 
to  know,  and  when  you  touch  her  I  want 
you  tc  tell  me  why." 

As  John  Raymond  stood  silently  before 
the  chief  he  knew  that  someone  else  heard 
the  command,  and  he  was  glad  that  she 
would  understand  the  limitations  under 
which  he  would  be  forced  to  work. 

Lozong's  hand  swept  aside  the  curtain  of 
Sylvia  Lambert's  tent,  revealing  the  sick 
woman  who  was  so  changed  that  the  doctor 
unconsciously  showed  his  surprise.  "It  is 
true,"  he  thought.  "They  have  made  her 
the  wife  of  their  tent." 

In  the  darkness  he  seemed  to  see  only  her 
eyes.  No  word  fell  from  his  lips  or  from 
hers,  for  Lozong  was  watching  them  in- 
tently. The  doctor  closed  his  eyes.  The 
169 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

robber  chief  could  not  prevent  the  language 
of  silence  from  passing  between  them. 
They  were  unconsciously  using  the  power  of 
which  man  knows  so  little.  He  felt,  or  did 
he  hear,  her  call  of  despair,  "You  must  help 
me."  "What  can  I  do  for  you?"  he  sent 
out  with  equal  desperation. 

"I  must  take  her  temperature  and  count 
her  pulse,"  he  told  Lozong.  "Of  course  you 
will  permit  me  to  do  that?" 

Lozong  silently  considered  this  request 
and  finally  consented,  and  as  the  doctor 
sought  her  wrist  the  woman's  fingers  un- 
consciously found  his  hand  for  a  moment, 
and  forgetting  his  purpose,  the  doctor's  hand 
closed  upon  her  wrist  with  all  the  force  of 
his  strong  emotion.  Although  it  seemed 
that  her  arm  would  break  under  it,  it  was  to 
her  the  sweetest  thing  on  earth. 

He  asked  no  question  except  through  Lo- 
zong, for  he  realized  that  it  would  be  haz- 
ardous to  antagonize  the  chief  in  his  des- 
peration. After  the  first  wave  of  feeling 
had  passed,  he  made  a  careful  examination 
170 


LOZONG'S  RIDING   PLACE 

In  the  far  recesses  of  the  mountains  above  fourteen  thousand  feet,  in  the  Province  of  Degre, 
was  Sylvia  Lambert  hidden,  in  these  far  remote  and  track  less  waste  John  Raymond  sought  her. 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  HIDING  PLACE 

and  left  his  medicines  with  very  careful  in- 
structions. He  then  turned  and  looked  for 
a  long  time  at  Lozong. 

"Will  you  not  listen  to  reason?"  he  finally 
asked  quietly.  "If  she  stays  here  it  will 
mean  her  death.  Take  her  to  my  hospital 
yonder,  there  we  can  hope  to  heal  her.  Here 
while  you  are  expecting  to  keep  her  she  is 
dying  by  inches.  It  would  be  better  to  let 
the  knife  silence  her  forever  than  to  compel 
her  to  suffer  in  this  way." 

He  thought  Lozong  would  be  frightened 
by  such  a  statement,  but  the  chief's  answer 
was  more  desperate  than  his  own. 

"The  knife  will  silence  her,"  and  then  he 
paused  and  in  a  whisper  continued,  "and 
you — before  she  shall  be  taken  to  your  hos- 
pital." 

There  were  no  leave-takings  when  the  doc- 
tor went  from  the  tent.  He  was  struggling 
with  himself  in  a  desire  to  decide  this  battle 
by  physical  combat  with  Lozong.  He  knew 
that  such  a  course  would  be  unwise  and  that 
it  would  probably  result  in  giving  up  his  life 
171 


I 

WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

and  perhaps  the  life  of  the  woman.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  win  against  so  many, 
so  he  again  submitted  to  being  blindfolded 
and  taken  to  the  main  road.  The  younger 
brother  again  led  the  way  and  called  back 
to  him  at  intervals  as  they  rode  along. 

"You  now  see,  don't  you,  that  she  is  the 
wife  of  the  tent?"  he  asked,  contemptuously. 
"You  now  understand  that  you  can  never 
take  her  away  and  that  she  shall  never  es- 
cape? Why  do  you  try?  It  is  foolish  for 
you  to  continue  to  look  for  her.  She  re- 
sisted, it  is  true,  but  the  priests  pronounced 
the  ceremony."  And  he  went  on  to  de- 
scribe it. 

Subtle  in  his  description  and  repeatedly 
insistent  that  the  foreign  woman  had  become 
theirs,  he  at  last  impressed  the  doctor  that 
he  was  telling  the  truth.  If  the  blindfolded 
man  could  have  had  but  one  look  into  the 
face  that  was  usually  expressionless  but  that 
was  now  alive  with  all  the  joy  of  cunning 
torture  he  would  have  known  that  he  was 
172 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  HIDING  PLACE 

being  deceived.     But  as  the  certainty  grew 
on  him,  he  sank  into  silence. 

He  knew  when  they  finally  reached  the 
path  which  they  called  the  broad  road,  for 
other  travelers  passed  by,  and  then  he  was 
conscious  that  they  were  following  a  slowly 
moving  caravan.  He  heard  the  travelers 
question  his  guide  regarding  him,  and  the 
answer  was  always  noncommittal.  At  last 
the  brother  came  and  ordered  him  to  lower 
his  head.  He  did  so  without  alighting  from 
his  horse.  The  cloth  was  taken  from  his 
eyes  and  his  hands  were  loosened. 

"Go,"  said  the  brother  briefly.  "You 
have  failed  this  time.  Why  come  again?" 

"Has  it  not  done  some  good?"  quickly  re- 
turned the  doctor.  "To  save  her  for  you  is 
something,  isn't  it?  Doesn't  it  mean  much 
to  save  your  wife?"  And  then  he  laughed. 

The  brother  stood  silently  watching  him 
as  he  rode  rapidly  away,  and,  muttering  to 
himself,  he  said,  "I  thought  I  had  made  him 
believe  that  it  was  useless  to  continue  to  fol- 
low us,  but  I  have  failed." 
173 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

But  he  had  not  failed.  A  lonely  man 
rode  away  towards  the  little  mission  station. 
Yet  he  was  a  desperate  man  for  his  soul  was 
being  torn  with  such  emotions  as  he  had 
never  known  a  human  being  could  expe- 
rience. 

Should  he  leave  her  there?  Had  the 
brother  told  the  truth  ?  What  were  their  re- 
lations? These  were  the  questions  that 
John  Raymond  fought  against  as  he  rode  at 
a  reckless  pace  towards  his  home.  The  horse 
that  had  grown  accustomed  to  habitual  kind- 
ness must  have  felt  something  of  the  pas- 
sion of  his  rider.  Strangely  enough,  in  his 
despair  he  began  to  think  more  clearly. 

"Can  she  have  become  their  wife  by  force? 
She  could  not  have  held  my  hand  as  she  did 
if  that  is  true!  She  could  not  have  looked 
at  me  as  she  did  if  it  were  only  despair! 
Somehow,  I  almost  believe  she  loves  me,  and 
if  they  have  made  her  the  wife  of  their  tent 
by  brute  force,  they  shall  not  escape  me." 
For  the  moment  all  the  passions  of  his  nature 
assailed  him,  but  as  he  left  the  mountain  pass 
174 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  HIDING  PLACE 

and  came  in  sight  of  the  little  mission  hos- 
pital, he  grew  calmer. 

"Though  she  is  a  wife  by  force,  no  law  of 
God  or  man  can  hold  her.  I  know  my  ene- 
mies, but  she  is  going  to  be  mine,  no  matter 
what  the  price." 


175 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

ESCAPE 

IF  the  doctor  was  desperate  as  he  rode 
from  the  tent  of  Lozong,  the  woman  was 
hopeless.  She  had  expected  that  something 
would  happen  which  would  give  him  an  op- 
portunity to  secure  her  release.  She  felt  the 
impulse  to  struggle  from  her  coarse  bed  and 
commence  the  fight  which  she  felt  the  doctor 
would  make  should  she  begin  it,  but  his  going 
was  so  sudden  and  she  herself  so  weak,  that 
there  was  no  other  way  than  to  submit.  She 
seemed  to  feel  again  the  touch  of  his  hand 
and  with  this  came  a  gleam  of  hope. 
Though  disappointed  that  he  had  not  made 
an  attempt  to  rescue  her,  she  had  seen 
enough  of  the  life  of  her  wild  companions  to 
know  that  it  would  have  been  too  great  a 
risk.  Her  growing  feeling  for  this  man  of 
whom  she  knew  so  little  led  her  to  believe 
176 


ESCAPE 

that  he  had  done  his  best,  and  that  his  cool 
judgment  was  better  than  a  hopeless  fight. 
She  determined  to  use  her  utmost  will  to  re- 
gain strength,  when  she  would  seek  him 
again,  believing  that  if  she  could  find  him 
with  his  friends  he  would  save  her. 

As  the  days  went  by,  she  took  his  medicine 
faithfully  and  ate  more  of  the  coarse  food. 
She  felt  her  strength  slowly  but  finally  re- 
turning. She  lived  almost  alone,  remain- 
ing on  her  cot  through  the  long  days,  and 
rarely  saw  Lozong.  The  brothers  held 
many  conferences  around  their  camp-fire. 
On  several  occasions  she  was  alone  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  night,  after  which 
they  returned  with  the  spoils  from  a  raid. 
She  waited  until  they  had  absolute  confi- 
dence in  leaving  her  alone,  and  then  one 
night  quietly  left  the  tent  for  the  trail.  Her 
eyes  found  the  eternal  star,  and,  turning, 
from  the  north  to  the  east,  she  said  softly, 
"He  came  from  the  east.  I  shall  go  east." 

She  thought  of  the  little  Chinese  woman 
and  longed  for  her  companionship.  Her 
177 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

senses  were  alert  to  every  sound  or  motion. 
Though  trembling  at  the  thought  of  possi- 
ble dangers  ahead,  there  was  something  in 
her  sense  of  freedom  which  was  exultant. 

She  had  brought  with  her  some  food  and 
the  little  money  still  in  her  possession.  In 
planning  to  escape  she  knew  that  the  only 
source  of  help  might  be  one  of  the  outposts 
in  that  wild  country  where  the  Chinese  store- 
keeper plied  his  trade.  Dropping  down  the 
path  which  was  the  only  one  leading  from 
that  mountain  fastness,  always  alert  to  any 
sound  of  the  returning  band,  she  traveled 
through  the  darkness  faster  than  she  had 
believed  it  would  be  possible  for  her  to  go. 
After  several  hours  of  running,  stumbling 
and  falling,  she  came  to  a  road  which  must 
be  followed  that  night  for  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  travel  it  in  security  during  the 
day.  Though  almost  overcome  by  weakness 
she  still  pressed  on,  and  was  finally  forced  to 
rest  during  part  of  each  hour.  The  desire 
for  sleep  was  almost  overpowering,  but  she 
struggled  on  until  the  approach  of  morning, 
178 


ESCAPE 

when  she  saw  that  the  road  ran  along  the 
river — one  of  those  torrents  which  come  out 
of  the  mountains  of  Tibet  and  flow  across 
hundreds  of  miles  to  the  sea. 

In  the  early  light  of  the  morning  she  left 
the  path,  which  was  called  a  road,  and, 
scrambling  through  the  brush  and  rocks, 
found  a  place  where  it  would  be  safe  to  rest. 
Utterly  exhausted,  she  slept  during  most  of 
the  day.  Not  daring  to  venture  from  her 
hiding  place,  she  waited  there  until  night  ap- 
proached. The  distance  she  had  traveled 
was  as  nothing  to  those  who  would  pursue 
her,  and  if  she  had  been  seen  by  anyone  she 
knew  that  Lozong  would  receive  the  word  at 
once. 

Finding  her  direction,  she  realized  that  it 
would  be  necessary  to  cross  the  river,  which 
seemed  at  that  moment  an  impossible  feat. 
Perhaps  there  was  a  ferry  somewhere,  or  a 
bridge.  She  continued  along  the  bank  and 
finally  came  to  a  single  strand  of  native  rope 
swung  above  the  river  from  two  cross-poles 
on  each  side,  which  served  as  a  crossing.  She 
179 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

had  often  seen  the  Tibetans  cross  hand  over 
hand  and  wondered  whether  her  strength 
would  enable  her  to  hold  on  until  she  had 
reached  the  other  side.  She  trembled  as  she 
looked  at  the  surging  waters,  but  it  was  her 
only  hope.  Reaching  up  to  grasp  the  rope, 
she  threw  her  arms  around  it  and  slid  down 
until  she  was  suspended  over  the  deepest 
part  of  the  river,  and  then  began  to  climb. 
Hand  over  hand  she  went,  but  the  rope, 
damp  from  the  splashing  water,  continually 
slipped  through  her  hands.  With  hands 
and  arms  bleeding,  she  held  herself  for  what 
seemed  to  her  an  interminable  time,  but 
which  was  really  only  a  few  moments. 
Finally,  from  utter  weakness,  she  let  go,  and 
with  a  prayer  on  her  lips  fell,  expecting  the 
water  to  dash  her  to  death.  Fortunately, 
however,  she  had  crossed  the  deepest  part  of 
the  river,  and  though  the  current  was  strong 
fought  her  way  to  the  eastern  bank.  Wet, 
sick,  bleeding,  she  lay  down,  thanking  God 
that  the  danger  had  passed,  and  prayed  for 
help.  Having  removed  part  of  her  cloth- 
180 


ESCAPE 

ing,  she  rested  while  it  was  drying.  Over 
the  mountain  side,  now  in  the  path,  more 
often  away  from  it,  she  went  toward  the 
east,  spurred  on  by  the  hope  that  help  would 
come  from  somewhere. 

The  servant  of  the  tent  discovered  that 
the  foreign  woman  had  gone  when  he 
brought  her  food  in  the  morning.  Expect- 
ing her  return,  he  waited  for  some  time  be-> 
fore  giving  the  alarm.  The  brothers  were 
furious  but  Lozong  said  nothing.  Then  he 
seemed  to  quiet  them  and  explained  his  at- 
titude. 

"Let  her  go,"  he  said.  "Why  should  we 
bring  her  back?  She  will  never  be  happy  in 
our  tent.  What  is  the  use  of  trying  to  keep 
her?" 

"Ah,  you  are  afraid  of  the  doctor." 

Lozong's  face  set  hard. 

"Afraid  of  the  doctor!  Why  should  I 
fear  him?  Go.  We  will  find  her,  and  I 
will  defy  the  doctor,  and  China,  and  the  for- 
eign power  to  which  she  belongs,  to  take  her 
from  me." 

181 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

They  went  without  horses.  Like  all 
primitive  people,  their  instinctive  ability  to 
trace  signs  unnoticed  by  the  civilized  race 
led  them  to  the  right  trail.  Down  the 
mountain  path  they  went,  following  the  road 
she  had  taken,  then  leaving  it,  then  taking 
it  up  again,  until  they  finally  came  to  the 
place  where  she  had  slept. 

"Here  she  rested,"  said  Lozong  briefly, 
and  down  the  river  bank  they  went  to  the 
rope  bridge. 

"If  she  attempted  that,"  said  one  of  the 
brothers,  "her  body  is  below." 

With  fine  agility  Lozong  grasped  the  rope 
and  swung  out  over  the  river.  He  soon 
knew  she  had  gone  across  the  torrent  for 
his  keen  eyes  detected  the  stain  of  blood  on 
the  rope,  and  when  he  had  reached  the 
water's  edge  of  the  opposite  shore  he  saw 
blood  on  the  sand.  He  said  nothing  to  his 
brothers,  who  did  not  see  his  face.  They 
had  again  taken  up  the  trail  and  presently 
one  of  them  shouted,  for  he  had  glimpsed  her 
on  the  mountain  side.  The  younger  brother 
182 


ESCAPE 

sprang  ahead,  jumping  from  rock  to  rock 
and  tearing  through  underbrush  and  across 
ravines.  She  had  heard  them  coming  and 
was  leaning  against  a  great  rock  with  her 
back  to  them.  The  brother  grasped  her 
with  a  violence  which  almost  threw  her. 

"You  would  escape,  would  you?"  he 
snarled. 

Lozong  pushed  him  away,  and,  placing 
himself  near  as  her  guard,  ordered  the 
brothers  to  prepare  camp  for  the  night,  for 
it  was  nearly  dark. 

In  the  early  morning,  before  she  had 
awakened  from  the  fatigue  of  her  journey, 
Lozong  sent  for  a  horse.  When  it  was 
brought  to  him,  he  helped  her  mount,  and, 
taking  the  rope  which  served  as  a  bridle,  led 
the  way  back.  Upon  reaching  the  tent  the 
brothers  immediately  withdrew  for  a  confer- 
ence. The  woman  could  hear  their  voices 
distinctly.  The  brother  next  to  Lozong, 
who  seldom  spoke,  brought  her  a  command 
to  come  before  the  brothers.  Feeling  that 
it  would  be  unwise  to  refuse,  she  followed 
183 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

him  and  found  them  seated  on  the  ground. 
The  younger  brother  turned  to  Lozong. 

"You  must  speak,"  he  said. 

Lozong  lifted  his  eyes  to  hers.  There 
was  now  no  smile  on  his  lips,  and  for  the 
first  time  she  felt  that  he  was  troubled.  She 
was  sure  that  he  was  to  be  the  spokesman 
for  his  brothers,  rather  than  for  himself. 

"We  have  decided  that  you  must  become 
the  wife  of  our  tent,  or  we  will  not  feed  you 
longer.  Tibet  thinks  you  are.  The  doctor 
thinks  it.  We  have  waited — now  we  wait 
no  longer." 

"Have  I  not  tried  to  go  away?  Have  I 
not  worked  for  you?  What  more  can  I 
do?"  she  asked. 

Before  Lozong  could  reply,  the  younger 
brother  interrupted. 

"Your  work  is  nothing.  Our  companions 
already  ridicule  us.  We  now  demand  that 
you  shall  marry  us,  or  we  will  kill  you." 

The  woman  realized  that  it  was  not  the 
time  to  parley  with  them;  that  the  crucial 
184 


ESCAPE 

moment  had  arrived.     She  addressed  Lo- 
zong. 

"Lozong,  I  did  not  think  this  of  you.  I 
have  said  again  and  again,  and  I  now  say 
finally — I  shall  not  become  the  wife  of  your 
tent.  Kill  me  if  you  will." 

The  younger  brother  sprang  towards  her, 
and  as  she  ran  before  him  and  the  others  fok 
lowed,  she  realized  that  the  moment  was 
filled  with  terrible  possibilities.  Reaching 
the  tent  he  grasped  her  roughly. 

"We  will  not  kill  you  but  we  will  make 
you  the  wife  of  the  tent." 

With  almost  superhuman  strength  she 
tore  herself  from  him  and  ran  to  the  curtain 
that  hung  before  the  little  space  that  was 
her  own,  the  man  following.  Lust  was  in 
his  eyes  and  passion  marked  every  motion. 

"Do  you  think  you  are  strong  enough  to 
withstand  me?  I  will  show  you." 

As  he  advanced,  she  lifted  a  hand  as  if  to 
hold  him  off. 

"Do  not  touch  me."  Her  voice  was  al- 
most a  whisper. 

185 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

He  stopped.  There  was  something  in  her 
eyes  which  he  had  never  seen  in  the  eyes  of 
a  human  heing  before.  He  had  looked  into 
the  eyes  of  wild  animals  and  he  had  fought 
men  to  their  death,  but  he  had  never  seen  a 
pure  woman  at  bay.  The  majesty  of  her 
purity  had  triumphed. 

Lozong  moved  closer  to  her,  but  watch- 
ing his  brother,  who  had  not  yet  touched  her, 
for  there  was  something  in  her  eyes  that 
made  him  almost  afraid.  Her  eyes  had 
never  left  him,  for  she  knew  that  of  all  the 
brothers,  he  was  most  to  be  feared. 

Still  gritting  his  teeth,  he  muttered,  "I 
will  have  you." 

"You  will  not.  Dog  that  you  are,  I  am 
not  afraid  of  you." 

With  this  she  stepped  in  back  of  the  cur- 
tain, safe  in  her  strength  as  a  woman. 

Several  hours  later  the  woman  came  from 
behind  the  curtain  and  called  to  the  servant. 

"I  want  to  see  Lozong,"  she  said. 

The  chief  came  at  once. 

"I  want  to  talk  with  you,"  she  told  him. 
186 


ESCAPE 

"But  not  here.  Let  us  go  yonder  to  the  big 
rock  that  overlooks  the  valley." 

He  followed  her  silently.  Seated  on  the 
rock  she  turned  to  Lozong  and  spoke  to  him 
as  she  would  to  an  equal.  He  was  accus- 
tomed to  Tibetan  politeness  and  to  Chinese 
formality,  but  this  easy  mode  of  conversa- 
tion which  she  had  adopted  was  strange. 

"Lozong,"  she  said,  "you  have  already 
harmed  me  more  than  you  know.  My  plans 
have  all  been  destroyed,  and  I  have  lost  a 
great  deal  of  property.  I  care  not  so  much 
for  that,  but  with  every  passing  day  my 
health  is  being  ruined.  For  what?  All  this 
is  not  going  to  do  any  good.  You  seek  to 
hold  me  in  your  tent  as  a  wife.  Should  I 
through  fear  consent,  I  would  only  become 
a  degraded  creature.  I  am  a  Christian  and 
cannot  give  up  my  ideals  without  becoming 
debased.  Your  Tibetan  women  are  used  to 
this  life,  but  it  is  impossible  to  a  woman  of 
the  west.  My  religion  teaches  that  one  man 
and  one  woman  shall  come  to  each  other, 
187 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

not  by  an  arrangement  like  this,  but  because 
they  love." 

She  paused,  but  Lozong  made  no  re- 
sponse. From  the  beginning  he  had  not 
looked  at  her.  His  face  was  stoical  in  ex- 
pression and  his  eyes  seemed  to  be  looking 
far  away.  The  meditative  habit  of  his  re- 
ligion had  taken  possession  of  him  and  she 
wondered  if  he  were  even  listening.  She 
continued  with  her  explanation  of  the  Chris- 
tian's belief  that  one  man  should  woo  one 
woman  and  win  her  with  tenderness  and  love. 
Still  he  remained  silent. 

As  he  sat  there,  she  admired  his  powerful 
physique,  revealing  the  force  before  which 
priests  and  men  had  quailed.  As  she 
reached  out  her  hand,  he  turned  and  looked 
at  her. 

"Oh,  Lozong,  if  you  would  help  me  this 
one  time.  If  you  who  have  injured  so  many 
would,  as  your  religion  teaches,  grant  mercy 
and  show  me  the  way  out  of  Tibet,  for  long 
ago  I  have  given  up  my  plan  to  go  to  Lhasa, 
you  would  have  that  in  your  heart  which 
188 


ESCAPE 

would  make  you  happy  always.  You  know 
I  admire  your  courage,  but  I  am  sorry  that 
you  are  so  terrible.  I  did  not  know  that 
such  a  man  as  you  existed.  Lozong,  save 
me  from  your  brothers.  Take  one  of  the 
horses  yonder  and  let  me  cross  the  moun- 
tains to  freedom  and  home." 

Lozong  was  silent  for  a  long  time  before 
he  arose. 

"Let  me  think,"  he  said,  and  left  her. 


189 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  SOUL 

f  I  CHOUGH  deliberate  and  meditative, 
•••  the  Oriental  does  not  reason  as  does 
the  man  of  the  Occident.  He  readily  ac- 
cepts the  strange  and  unexplainable,  which 
is  imprinted  on  the  mirror  of  his  brain  to 
be  pondered  upon  at  some  future  time. 

So  it  was  with  Lozong.  Standing  in  the 
attitude  of  prayer  and  reflection,  he  prayed 
"Om  mani  padme  hum."  A  desire  to  be 
just  and  merciful  was  strong  within  him,  but 
it  was  difficult  for  him  to  reach  a  definition 
of  justice.  His  mind  ran  back  over  the 
weeks  that  had  elapsed  since  the  foreign 
woman  had  crossed  his  path.  The  whole 
course  of  his  life  had  been  changed.  He  re- 
membered the  soft  touch  with  which  she 
dressed  his  wounds,  and  wondered  at  it.  He 
knew  that  it  was  this  touch  of  tenderness, 
190 


THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  SOUL 

different  from  anything  he  had  known  in  his 
rough,  wild  life  that  made  him  desire  her. 
He  thought  of  the  Tibetan  women.  They 
worked  hard  and  served  well,  but  none  of 
them  came  with  soft  hands  or  expressions 
of  sympathy  in  their  eyes,  as  did  this  woman. 
Then  he  thought  of  the  doctor — how  he  trav- 
eled many  miles,  sleeping  in  the  open  or  in 
rough  places  to  which  he  was  unaccustomed, 
simply  to  help  someone,  and  those  whom 
he  helped  were  not  of  his  own  race,  yet  re- 
fusing money  and  gifts  of  any  value.  He 
reflected  on  the  story  the  foreign  woman  had 
told  him,  of  the  righteous  love  of  one  man 
for  one  woman.  He  thought  of  the  practice 
of  the  Tibetan  people  at  their  feasts,  how  a 
man  would  snatch  the  cap  of  a  woman  and 
she  would  go  to  his  tent  at  night  to  seek  it, 
and  then  serve  both  him  and  his  brothers. 
He  remembered  very  distinctly  how  she  told 
him  that  in  the  west  men  loved  women  not 
for  the  sake  of  their  bodies  but  because  they 
loved  their  souls.  He  pondered  on  this  a 
long  time. 

191 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

"What  is  the  body?"  he  asked  himself. 
"Buddha  taught  that  the  soul  is  supreme  and 
lives  on — that  all  else  is  nothing.  If  we 
hold  this  woman  we  will  be  enthroning  the 
physical.  Her  soul  will  die  and  Buddha  has 
said  that  he  who  causes  the  death  of  a  soul 
must  wander  hopeless  and  lost  throughout 
all  time." 

He  looked  like  a  statue  as  he  sat  on  the 
great  rock  jutting  out  from  the  mountain 
with  a  background  of  blue  sky.  He  had  not 
moved  since  she  left  him. 

"Under  that  great  teacher  whom  they  call 
Christ,  a  man  exalts  the  soul  of  a  woman, 
not  her  body,  and  they  say  she  leads  him  to 
a  better  life.  I,  who  have  overcome  men, 
can  I  conquer  my  own  soul,  and  will  it  not 
then  appeal  to  her?  'Om  mani  padme  hum.' 
I  will  not  hold  her  body  by  power.  I  will 
conquer  my  soul  that  it  may  speak  unto  hers, 
and  she  shall  then  be  mine." 

He  felt  once  more  the  joy  of  possession, 
but  in  the  midst  of  it  remembered  that  if  he 
carried  out  his  vow,  he,  Lozong,  the  head  of 
192 


THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  SOUL 

his  clan  and  tribe,  would  have  to  break  the 
customs  of  his  people  and  travel  an  un- 
known path. 

The  day  had  advanced  to  early  evening 
when  Lozong  called  Sylvia  Lambert  to  the 
great  rock.  They  stood  alone  in  the  silence 
of  the  mountains,  bathed  in  the  lingering 
twilight.  This  time  it  was  the  woman  who 
was  silent. 

"It  is  hard  for  me  to  say  what  I  want  to 
tell  you,"  said  Lozong.  "It  is  hard  to  talk 
in  the  new  language  I  have  learned." 

The  woman  searched  his  face  eagerly,  for 
she  knew  from  the  tone  of  his  voice  that 
there  was  a  marked  change  in  him.  The 
hard  lines  had  left  his  face,  a  soft  light  shone 
from  his  eyes,  and  that  which  had  made  her 
afraid  was  absent. 

"You  have  taught  me  a  new  word,"  he 
said,  "the  word  love.'  By  your  tenderness 
you  have  shown  me  what  it  means  and  you 
revealed  it  to  me  when  you  told  me  that  a 
man  must  conquer  his  soul  that  he  may  win 
a  woman.  I  cannot  plead  as  does  the  man 
193 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

of  the  west,  but  can  you  not  see  what  has 
happened  to  me?  You  know  how  differ- 
ently I  would  have  acted  a  month  ago  had 
you  refused  to  become  the  wife  of  our  tent. 
It  would  have  meant  nothing  to  me  to  hurt 
or  destroy  you.  You  would  have  been  but 
one  more.  But  from  the  moment,  yonder 
in  the  north,  when  you  touched  with  gentle 
hands  the  shoulder  that  had  been  hurt  and 
ministered  to  me,  I  knew  I  could  not  harm 
you.  I  took  you  from  the  priests  not  be- 
cause I  wanted  you  for  the  wife  of  our  tent, 
but  because  I  wanted  to  save  you  from  them. 
Not  until  to-day  did  I  see  the  road  we  must 
travel.  You  have  dreamed  of  going  to 
Lhasa.  I  shall  take  you  there.  The  broth- 
ers will  not  go  with  us.  For  you  I  will 
break  the  customs  of  Tibet.  For  you  I  will 
leave  the  tent  of  my  family.  For  you  I 
shall  give  up  my  name.  I  shall  let  your 
dreams  be  fulfilled.  It  has  hurt  you  because 
I  robbed  and  destroyed.  For  you  I  will 
now  live  the  life  of  right." 

The  woman  looked  upon  him  with  won- 
194 


THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  SOUL 

der.  She  knew  the  struggle  that  was  going 
on  within  him.  It  was  far  harder  for  him 
to  renounce  his  old  life  than  to  face  the  dan- 
ger of  a  raid.  Every  fiber  of  her  body  trem- 
bled. She  was  more  afraid  now  than  she 
had  ever  been,  not  because  of  any  harm  that 
might  befall  her,  but  in  the  thought  of  what 
might  happen  to  him.  Strong  in  the  possi- 
bilities of  manhood,  what  would  happen 
when  she  said  no  ?  Impulsively  she  reached 
out  her  hand : 

"Oh,  Lozong,  I  want  to  be  your  friend 
always,  and  I  want  you  to  be  mine,  no  mat- 
ter where  I  may  be.  I  want  to  often  think 
of  you,  not  because  of  the  harm  you  have 
done  me,  but  because  of  the  vision  of  a  man 
you  have  given  me.  What  you  propose,  Lo- 
zong, cannot  be.  You  would  not  be 
happy." 

There  was  an  expression  of  surprise  on 
his  face  as  he  asked, 

"Is  it  not  happiness  to  do  right?  Is  it 
not  happiness  to  conquer  the  soul?  Have 
you  not  taught  me  this?  Though  the  weak- 
195 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

ness  of  the  flesh  might  call  me  to  the  old  life, 
you  would  hold  me." 

"Oh,  it  cannot  be,"  moaned  the  woman. 
"There  are  but  two  paths  for  me.  One  is 
death  and  the  other  is  over  the  mountains 
to  the  east  and  home.  Oh,  will  you  not  help 
me?" 

Lozong  straightened  himself  to  his  full 
height. 

"You  have  said  that  loving  is  giving.  The 
only  desire  I  have  heard  you  express  is  to 
go  to  Lhasa.  No  more  will  I  speak  to  you 
of  becoming  my  wife — I  cannot  promise  for 
my  brothers — but  I  shall  take  you  to  Lhasa. 
You  will  see  that  wonderful  city,  the  city 
where  dwells  the  Dalai  Lama  Himself  who 
rules  us  all.  There  you  will  see  the  golden 
roof  of  the  Potala  as  it  rises  tier  upon  tier 
above  the  mountains.  You  will  stand  on  its 
highest  tower  and  see  where  the  power  of 
Buddha  is  supreme  in  the  world.  Your 
eyes  will  see  that  which  no  woman  of  your 
race  has  ever  seen.  That  will  be  my  gift  of 
love.  If  in  turn  you  cannot  love,  perhaps 
196 


the  door  will  open,  either  to  the  east  or  to 
the  west,  and  you  shall  go  to  that  land  which 
you  call  your  home.  I  take  you  because  I 
believe  that  all  other  lands  are  as  offal  to 
the  land  of  Tibet.  Once  you  have  seen 
Lhasa,  the  glory  of  all  other  lands  and  of 
all  other  cities  will  fade  from  your  eyes,  for 
Lhasa  is  the  city  of  Buddha.  You  are  now 
better.  The  camp  breaks  with  the  early 
morning  and  before  another  sun  has  set  we 
shall  be  on  the  road  to  Lhasa." 


1971 


CHAPTER  XX 

FAMILY  TIES  BROKEN 

LOZONG  was  talking  with  his  brothers, 
but  the  woman  could  not  hear  what  was 
said.  The  result  was  the  breaking  of  the 
camp,  and  before  the  sun  was  high  in  the 
heavens  a  start  had  been  made  on  the  road  to 
Lhasa.  In  the  heart  of  the  woman  there 
was  no  joy  in  the  thought  that  she  was  going 
to  the  city  of  which  she  had  dreamed  as  the 
goal  of  her  journey  to  the  land  out  where  the 
world  begins.  The  brothers  were  sullen. 
There  was  none  of  the  usual  talking  and  jest- 
ing which  characterizes  the  caravan  of  the 
east.  There  was  no  haste.  The  little  band 
moved  on  at  the  pace  customary  to  caravans 
journeying  towards  the  holy  city.  It  had 
taken  on  some  of  the  religious  form  and  cere- 
mony assumed  by  pilgrims  traveling  that 
way.  The  greatest  respect  was  shown  them 
198 


FAMILY  TIES  BROKEN 

by  others  on  the  road  when  it  became  known 
that  the  band  of  Lozong  was  on  its  way  to 
the  holy  city. 

Meanwhile  a  messenger  brought  word  to 
the  doctor  at  the  mission  station  that  the 
band  was  moving  towards  Lhasa.  His  little 
group  of  faithful  friends  knew  whenever  Lo- 
zong left  the  trail  for  the  main  road,  to  trade 
or  to  raid.  They  had  also  heard  of  the  for- 
eign woman's  attempted  escape,  and  the  doc- 
tor connected  this  with  the  journey  towards 
Lhasa. 

"They  are  putting  her  far  beyond  my 
reach,"  he  thought,  "and  making  it  impos- 
sible for  me  to  save  her." 

He  had  been  making  his  plans  very  care- 
fully and  studying  what  he  should  do  un- 
der many  possible  conditions.  This  latest 
news  surprised  him.  He  considered  it  not 
at  all  unlikely  that  they  would  take  her  to 
their  secluded  home  for  the  winter  months 
which  were  drawing  near,  or  to  their  own  lit- 
tle valley  where  he  could  not  follow.  He 
was  almost  despairing  again.  But  why 
199 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

were  they  taking  her  to  Lhasa?  Was  it  to 
secure  the  sanction  of  the  high  powers  of 
Buddha  for  their  action  in  holding  a  for- 
eign woman?  He  heard  that  the  younger 
brother  had  persistently  circulated  the  ru- 
mor that  she  was  the  wife  of  their  tent,  but 
nothing  had  come  from  the  lips  of  Lozong 
to  confirm  it. 

Now  that  he  knew  that  the  band  was  on 
the  road  to  Lhasa  he  made  a  careful  prep- 
aration for  an  itinerary  to  which  he  was  ac- 
customed. He  had  often  gone  down  the 
main  traveled  road  to  Lhasa,  healing  the 
sick,  scattering  little  tracts  of  Scripture,  and 
preaching  as  he  went.  Word  was  given  out 
that  the  doctor  was  preparing  to  take  one  of 
his  customary  trips  into  the  interior,  but  he 
was  careful  that  no  one  should  know  that 
he  was  really  following  Lozong.  He 
planned  to  overtake  the  band,  if  possible,  at 
a  place  where  he  had  many  friends.  He 
now  vowed  to  himself  that  it  must  be  his  life 
or  theirs,  and  said  to  himself  again  and 
again,  "I  could  not  go  on  in  my  work  if  I 
200 


permitted  a  helpless  woman  to  die."     With 
a  sad  face  he  started  on  his  journey. 

This  trip  was  not  made  as  quickly  as  had 
been  the  preceding  ones.  He  stopped  at 
every  camp  and  at  every  store,  and,  in  his 
usual  merry  way,  healed  and  preached.  The 
receptions  were  continual  testimonies  of  the 
appreciation  of  his  work.  Many  questioned 
him  about  Lozong  and  the  strange  woman 
he  had  captured,  but  the  doctor  showed  no 
interest  in  the  stories  which  they  told  him. 
Sometimes  he  said  to  himself,  "It  may  mean 
my  life  as  well  as  that  of  Lozong."  When 
he  lay  down  at  night  he  prayed  that  God 
would  open  a  way  to  save  this  strange 
woman.  He  persistently  fought  back  any 
acknowledgment  to  himself  that  his  purpose 
was  other  than  to  help  her.  He  had  never 
known  the  feeling  of  love,  and  he  could  not 
believe  that  what  he  now  felt  for  her  could 
be  rightfully  called  love.  He  thought  of  it 
only  as  a  great  anxiety  for  her  safety,  like 
solicitude  over  the  outcome  of  a  serious  op- 
201 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

eration,  yet  within  himself  he  knew  that  he 
had  never  before  felt  such  concern. 

The  moving  caravan  had  just  completed  a 
rather  steep  descent  through  a  pass,  and  had 
stopped  to  rest  in  a  beautiful  little  valley 
of  fertile  fields  and  farms,  revealing  a 
lamasery  in  the  distance.  The  sullenness  of 
the  brothers  had  increased  with  the  days 
marking  the  journey,  and  only  the  impera- 
tive order  of  Lozong  had  kept  them  to  the 
road.  "We  go  to  Lhasa,"  he  commanded 
when  they  showed  a  disposition  to  oppose 
the  course  he  was  taking. 

Now  when  they  halted  the  spokesman  of 
the  brothers  came  to  Lozong, 

"You  yourself  have  decreed  that  she  must 
not  go  to  Lhasa,"  he  said,  "and  now,  without 
making  her  the  wife  of  the  tent  or  without 
consulting  with  us  as  in  the  past,  you  are 
forcing  us  to  journey  with  you  to  take  this 
woman  to  our  holy  city.  It  is  not  the  time 
to  make  our  pilgrimage  of  merit  to  Lhasa, 
so  why  should  we  go?  We  have  had  a  fairly 
202 


FAMILY  TIES  BROKEN 

successful  season.  The  winter  comes.  Let 
us  return  to  our  house  in  the  valley." 

Lozong  ruled  by  force  of  reason  rather 
than  by  authority,  but  he  realized  that  now 
there  was  no  argument  which  would  satisfy 
his  brothers,  and  again  curtly  commanded, 

"We  go  to  Lhasa.  If  I  care  to  take  her, 
that  is  my  affair." 

His  manner  infuriated  the  younger 
brother. 

"If  she  goes  to  Lhasa  it  will  be  as  our 
wife,"  he  retorted,  "or  we  go  not  another 
foot,  and  if  you  do  not  make  her  become  our 
wife,  the  dogs  of  the  valley  will  have  her 
body." 

The  woman  inside  of  the  tent  stood  listen- 
ing. She  was  not  surprised  that  it  had  come 
to  an  issue,  for  she  had  watched  the  growing 
sullenness  of  the  brothers. 

"Oh,  God,"  she  prayed,  "make  Lozong 
strong.  Help  him  to  save  me.  I  will  ac- 
cept death  rather  than  that  awful  degra- 
dation." 

As  she  prayed,  Lozong  faced  the  broth- 
203 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

ers.  His  eyes  were  alight  with  a  terrible 
fire.  He  was  meeting  an  issue  which  he  had 
never  thought  of  as  a  part  of  his  life  until 
he  had  vowed  to  give  up  even  his  family  for 
the  woman  in  the  tent.  He  and  his  broth- 
ers had  often  quarreled  and  even  fought,  but 
now  each  realized  that  a  more  serious  hour 
had  arrived.  They  feared  him  as  never  be- 
fore, for  they  saw  that  his  face  worked  with 
an  anger  which  knew  no  restraint,  yet  they 
too  were  men  of  courage.  One  moved  as 
if  to  go  to  the  tent.  Lozong,  knife  in  his 
right  hand,  lifted  his  left,  and  keeping  all  in 
front  of  him,  repelled  every  attempt  to  pass 
him. 

"Go,  you  dogs.  Later  I  will  settle  with 
you  and  give  you  your  share  of  the  spoils. 
This  woman  shall  not  be  harmed,  neither  will 
we  force  her  to  become  our  wife.  No  longer 
is  Lozong  of  your  household.  Go." 

The  brothers  held  back  amazed,  for  they 

could  not  believe  that  his  anger  would  ever 

lead  him  so  far.     In  his  rough  way  he  had 

been  a  man  of  affection,  and  the  accomplish- 

204s 


FAMILY  TIES  BROKEN 

ments  and  courage  of  his  family  had  been 
his  pride.  A  separation  from  him  was 
strange,  and  they  had  never  thought  of  such 
a  condition  entering  their  lives.  Without  a 
word,  however,  they  swung  themselves  onto 
their  horses  and  rode  away.  A  brother  had 
been  lost  to  them.  They  did  not  fear  that 
he  would  forget  to  divide  the  spoils,  but 
what  power  had  this  woman  over  Lozong 
that  could  make  him  leave  them  for  her? 

Sylvia  Lambert  listened  with  wonder, 
amazed  that  this  man  of  the  mountains, 
whom  she  sometimes  called  wild,  would  per- 
mit the  dictates  of  his  feeling  to  lead  him  so 
far.  She  waited,  expecting  him  to  call  her. 
Once  she  looked  from  the  tent  and  saw  him 
standing  silently  in  the  growing  darkness, 
facing  the  direction  in  which  the  brothers  had 
gone.  At  that  moment  she  felt  more  help- 
less than  ever.  Lozong  had  shielded  her 
from  his  brothers,  but  who  would  protect  her 
from  him?  She  was  confident  that  to  him 
his  love  for  her  was  real,  but  with  his  stand- 
ards so  far  removed  from  her  own,  she  did 
205 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

not  know  what  to  expect.  Longing  for 
help,  her  mind  turned  confidently  to  the  doc- 
tor. Where  was  he?  Were  the  pressure  of 
his  hand  and  the  look  in  his  eyes  only  of  sym- 
pathy, or  did  he  really  care?" 

"If  I  were  a  man,  would  I  hesitate? 
Would  I  let  a  helpless  woman  suffer  like 
this?  No,  no  matter  if  she  were  a  stranger, 
I  would  give  my  life." 

With  doubting  the  only  human  being  who 
could  help  her,  her  fear  of  Lozong  grew.  In 
the  darkness  of  the  tent,  groping  among  her 
few  personal  belongings,  she  found  the  knife 
which  he  had  given  her,  and  which  he  said 
would  serve  as  a  weapon  if  ever  she  was  in 
serious  danger.  Leaving  the  tent,  she 
found  Lozong  still  standing  in  the  same  po- 
sition. He  was  between  her  and  the  setting 
sun,  and  catching  a  glimpse  of  his  face  she 
saw  only  sadness.  Instantly  her  fear  left 
her,  and  she  went  out  to  him : 

"Oh,  Lozong,  I  am  sorry;  more  sorry  than 
I  can  tell  you,  that  I  have  been  the  cause  of 
your  quarrel  with  your  brothers." 
206 


FAMILY  TIES  BROKEN 

"We  have  not  quarreled,"  answered  the 
chief.  "We  have  separated." 

"You  have  said  that  the  law  of  love  is  to 
give,"  he  went  on.  "I  have  given  them  up. 
They  have  gone  from  me.  Is  not  that  un- 
selfishness? Now  what  will  you  give  in  re- 
turn?" 

She  was  silent  before  this  appeal. 

"But  Lozong,"  she  finally  said,  "I  do  not 
love  you.  You  know  I  admire  you  and  I 
owe  you  a  great  debt  because  of  what  hap- 
pened to-night,  but  it  would  be  wrong  for 
me  to  give  myself  without  love.  I  am  hon- 
ored that  a  man  as  brave  and  strong  as  you 
loves  me — but  you  surely  realize  that,  feel- 
ing as  I  do,  I  cannot  live  in  your  tent.  I 
craved  adventure,  but  I  have  had  enough  of 
it.  Now  I  long  for  my  home  and  all  the 
comfort  it  affords.  If  you  will  allow  me  to 
go  back,  I  will  serve  others.  I  have  been 
selfish,  but  you,  to-night,  have  taught  me  the 
meaning  of  real  unselfishness.  Oh,  will  you 
not  let  me  go?  As  I  stood  in  the  tent  I 
feared  you.  I  confess  that  I  brought  this 
207 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

knife  with  me  to  defend  myself  if  you  forced 
me.  Here,  take  it.  This  shows  you  that  I 
trust  you  even  though  I  cannot  love  you." 
As  she  placed  the  knife  in  his  open  hand, 
it  slipped  to  the  ground.  For  a  long  time 
he  looked  at  her  steadily  and  then  turned  his 
back,  indicating  that  the  interview  was 
ended. 


208 


CHAPTER  XXI 

CONQUERING  SELF 

THE  woman  walked  slowly  back  to  the 
tent.  She  knew  that  Lozong  was 
fighting  such  a  battle  as  perhaps  few  men 
were  ever  called  upon  to  meet.  Unable  to 
sleep,  she  stole  out  from  time  to  time  to  look 
at  the  chief,  who,  standing  erect  with  his  face 
towards  Lhasa,  fought  not  only  his  desire 
for  this  strange  woman,  but  also  the  question 
of  his  religion.  Only  once  or  twice  he  in- 
voluntarily muttered,  "Om  mani  padme 
hum."  He  soon  came  to  realize  that  it  was 
not  now  a  question  of  his  love  for  this 
woman,  for  he  remembered  that  she  had  said, 
"I  do  not  love  you."  Into  his  great  soul 
had  come  a  realization  of  love.  He  who  had 
fought  and  won  so  many  times  had  at  last 
learned  to  fight  and  lose.  He  knew  that 
giving  her  up  would  not  end  his  trouble. 
209 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

His  love  had  cost  him  his  family.  Must  he 
give  up  everything? 

For  a  moment  the  savage  side  of  his  na- 
ture held  sway. 

"I  will  gather  about  me  the  wild  men  and 
the  outlaws  of  Tibet  and  form  a  clan  of  my 
own.  We  will  raid  and  destroy — we  will 
live  as  men  without  homes  or  religion." 

But  this  mood  quickly  passed. 

"In  this  hour  of  my  sorrow,  with  this  love 
within  me  hopeless  and  my  family  gone, 
what  is  my  religion  worth  to  me?  I  see  now 
that  it  was  all  form.  I  have  worshipped  the 
image  of  Buddha  and  bowed  down  before 
men  who  are  supposed  to  be  the  incarnate 
Buddhas,  but  what  have  they  done  for  me? 
The  priests  are  low  and  sensual.  They 
meditate — they  say  "nothing — nothing — all 
is  nothing."  What  does  it  avail?  They  heal 
no  diseases.  They  are  held  bound  by  beliefs 
that  help  no  one.  This  woman's  religion 
produces  men  like  that  blue-eyed  doctor — 
men  with  laughter  in  their  souls.  They 
cross  mountains  and  seas  to  help  others.  In 
210 


CONQUERING  SELF 

all  the  history  of  Buddhism,  what  has  it  done? 
for  Tibet  that  can  be  compared  with  what 
the  doctor  does  yonder  in  his  little  hospital? 
Have  the  thousand  monasteries — has  the 
golden  roofed  Potala — have  any  of  these 
things  helped  Tibet?  I  once  heard  this 
woman  pray  for  help.  She  prayed  to  a  be- 
ing called  'God'  and  to  one  whom  she  calls 
the  Christ.  Oh,  Christ,  I  turn  to  you  now. 
I  am  seeking  you,  for  I  know  not  the  way. 
Buddha  showed  me  one  way,  but  was  it  the 
way  to  life?  He  renounced  life  and  gave 
up  its  joys  for  himself,  but  of  what  worth 
was  that  if  it  brought  no  joy  to  others?" 

With  this  cry  of  despair  in  his  heart,  he 
called  to  the  woman. 

"Do  you  love?"  he  asked  her. 

"Do  you  mean — you?"  she  asked  in  re- 
turn. 

"You  answered  that,"  he  said  briefly.    "In 
your  land,  do  you  love  another?" 

"No." 

"Do  you  love  the  doctor?" 

Her  face  flushed. 

211 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

"I  don't  know." 

"Lozong,"  she  added,  "I  am  being  more 
honest  with  you  than  I  have  ever  been  with 
anyone  else.  If  another  questioned  me  as 
you  do,  I  don't  know  what  I  should  say,  but 
you  have  suffered  so  much  for  me  that  I 
want  to  be  honest  with  you.  I  know  so  lit- 
tle of  the  doctor  and  he  is  so  much  better 
than  I.  I  cannot  understand,  though,  why 
he  has  not  again  come  to  me." 

For  the  first  time  in  many  days,  Lozong 
smiled. 

"It  is  because  he  understands  what  you  do 
not.  You  cannot  question  his  courage.  I 
would  give  anything  to  possess  it.  Mine  de- 
pends upon  firearms  and  knives — his  is  the 
courage  of  a  man.  Rumor  says  that  he  is 
following  us.  He  says  that  the  purpose  of 
his  trip  is  to  search  out  the  sick,  but  I  notice 
that  it  has  brought  him  ever  nearer  to  us 
and  to  you.  He  may  be  able  to  deceive  oth- 
ers, but  not  Lozong.  In  the  morning  we 
shall  journey  towards  him. 

"You  must  now  rest.  You  sleep  inside 
212 


CONQUERING  SELF 

the  tent,  and  I  as  a  guard  at  your  door — 
your  servant  and  your  friend." 

Lozong  called  her  at  sunrise.  She  had 
slept  untroubled,  for  his  assurance  had 
brought  to  her  soul  a  calmness  that  she  had 
not  experienced  for  many  months.  Dress- 
ing hurriedly  she  came  and  stood  at  the 
opening  of  the  tent.  As  the  man  looked 
upon  her,  there  came  unconsciously  to  his 
lips  the  prayer,  "Om  mani  padme  hum." 
She  seemed  to  him  like  a  goddess  from  an- 
other world.  Sleep  and  the  promise  of 
safety  had  brought  to  her  face  a  wonderful 
look  of  joy. 

"We  must  travel  quickly,"  he  said.  "We 
have  not  time  to  break  up  camp.  I  would 
leave  you  here  until  I  find  the  doctor,  but  I 
am  afraid  that  my  brothers  may  return." 

Together  they  rode  away. 

Lozong  questioned  very  closely  every 
traveler  whom  they  encountered,  and  after 
riding  several  hours  they  saw  in  the  dis- 
213 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

tance  a  little  group  of  horsemen  coming 
towards  them. 

"He  comes,"  said  Lozong.  "Wait  here 
and  let  me  go  to  meet  him.  This  would  be 
no  place  for  you  to  talk.  I  will  tell  him 
that  to-night  he  may  come  to  the  tent." 

"Oh,  Lozong,  you  will  tell  him  nothing 
that  I  have  told  you — of  the  questions  in  my 
mind.  You  must  not  tell  him  anything." 

"Nothing,"  replied  he  briefly,  as  he  rode 
forward. 

"Is  she  ill  again?"  the  doctor  betrayed  his 
great  concern. 

"No,  she  is  well — and  happy." 

The  doctor  searched  Lozong's  eyes.  He 
saw  a  different  Lozong. 

"What  brings  you?"  asked  the  chief  in 
return. 

"I  love  the  woman."  He  was  silent  for  a 
while  before  he  went  on. 

"But  I  am  a  rough  man,  Lozong " 

"Not  to  me,"  interrupted  the  chief. 

"Ah,  but  I  am  according  to  the  standards 
of  the  society  in  which  this  woman  was 
214 


CONQUERING  SELF 

reared.  I  hesitate  to  tell  her  of  my  love 
because  we  know  so  little  of  each  other. 
You  have  guarded  her  so  closely  that  I  have 
not  been  able  even  to  talk  with  her.  Now 
tell  me — tell  it  all  to  me." 

Lozong,  remaining  true  to  his  promise, 
did  not  betray  the  woman's  confidence,  but 
related  in  detail  what  occurred  when  he  sepa- 
rated from  his  brothers.  With  the  simplic- 
ity of  the  Orient,  he  told  the  doctor  that  he 
loved  the  strange  woman,  and  of  his  fight  to 
save  her. 

Instantly  the  doctor  said,  "Is  she  not  the 
wife  of  your  tent?" 

This  time  Lozong  laughed. 

"Ah,  that  younger  brother  of  mine  has 
deceived  you." 

"Yes,  he  did,"  the  doctor  replied  honestly. 
"I  finally  believed  him." 

The  doctor  studied  the  man  before  him. 
Was  it  possible  that  the  time  had  come  when 
he  would  respond  to  the  appeal  of  Chris- 
tianity? 

With  their  horses'  heads  touching  and  the 
215 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

attendants  out  of  hearing,  the  doctor  began 
with  Lozong's  love  for  the  foreign  woman, 
dwelt  upon  the  doctrine  of  unselfishness  and 
finally  led  up  to  the  majestic  figure  of 
Christ. 

Lozong  listened  attentively. 

"But  you  do  not  understand,"  he  said  at 
last.  "Buddhism  has  been  my  very  life. 
Would  you  now  take  that  from  me  also?  I 
have  given  up  my  family  to  save  this  woman. 
Is  not  that  merit  enough?" 

"But,"  explained  the  doctor,  "Christ  did 
not  think  of  merit  for  Himself,  and  saved 
others  though  he  could  not  save  Himself." 

Lozong  sat  silently  for  a  long  time. 

"Stay  here  until  a  division  of  time  has 
passed,"  he  said  at  last,  "and  then  travel  yon- 
der to  the  pass,  cross  it,  and  at  its  foot,  when 
the  sun  is  setting,  you  will  find  her  with 


me." 


216 


CHAPTER  XXII 

"GREATER  LOVE  HATH  NO  MAN  THAN  THIS" 

WHEN  Lozong  returned  to  Sylvia 
Lambert,  he  remarked  briefly,  "He 
comes  tonight." 

As  they  rode  back  towards  the  camp  the 
depression  and  sadness  which  had  marked 
the  bearing  of  the  chief  gradually  disap- 
peared. He  described  to  his  companion  the 
perils  of  the  pass  which  led  to  the  great 
mountain  beyond,  told  her  about  his  home 
miles  away,  and  once  again  related  the  won- 
ders of  the  holy  city  of  Lhasa. 

As  they  reached  the  tent  his  keen  eyes  de- 
tected that  someone  had  been  there  during 
their  absence. 

"It  was  my  brother,  the  one  who  is  now 

the  head  of  the  family,"  he  said,  "and  he 

came  alone — perhaps  to  parley — I  know  not. 

He  will  come  again  with  the  others  when 

217 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

they  hear  that  the  doctor  is  here.  That  will 
bring  them — but  not  with  a  mission  of 
peace." 

As  the  twilight  deepened  the  woman  grew 
restless  and  almost  nervous.  She  won- 
dered what  would  happen  when  the  doctor 
came — how  he  would  greet  her  and  what  he 
would  say.  The  rumor  which  Lozong  had 
repeated  troubled  her.  Perhaps  he  was 
married.  She  dwelt  a  little,  however,  on 
the  possibility  that  this  was  not  true  and  that 
he  might  tell  her  that  he  loved  her.  There 
had  been  so  much  uncertainty  about  her 
safety,  that  she  could  not  realize  that  lib- 
erty was  so  near. 

"He  comes,"  said  Lozong,  from  the  open- 
ing of  the  tent  where  he  had  been  watching. 
He  walked  down  the  path  to  meet  the  doc- 
tor, took  his  horse  and  led  it  away. 

The  woman  stood  in  the  opening  of  the 
tent.  In  the  impulse  of  the  eternal  femi- 
nine she  had  made  herself  as  presentable 
as  possible.  He  had  seen  her  only  while 
she  was  ill,  but  now  that  health  had  returned 
218 


"GREATER  LOVE  HATH  NO  MAN" 

with  the  assurance  of  safety  there  was  a  new 
light  in  her  eyes.  He  did  not  know  that  it 
was  not  kindled  by  the  return  of  health,  but 
by  the  tension  of  the  moment  which  was  to 
bring  an  experience  that  she  had  not  ex- 
pected to  find  in  Tibet.  They  had  never 
talked  in  their  own  language,  and  they  knew 
nothing  more  of  each  other  than  that  he  had 
come  to  Tibet  to  minister  to  its  people,  and 
that  she  sought  the  city  of  Lhasa.  They 
looked  into  each  other's  eyes  for  a  long  time, 
then  he  reached  out  his  hand.  She  came 
and  put  both  of  hers  into  his. 

"I  do  not  know  a  woman's  way,  and  I  do 
not  even  know  your  name  correctly,  but  is 
this  an  expression  of  gratitude,  or  do  you 
come  to  me  this  way  because  you  feel  some- 
thing more?" 

"It  must  be  more  than  that,  for  I  wanted 
you  to  come  not  alone  to  save  me,  but  to  be 
near.     But  they  say  you  are  married?" 
"No,  I  have  never  loved  another  woman." 
Then  she  answered  softly,  "I  love  you." 
The  hour  seemed  too  holy  to  both  of  them 
219 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

for  more  than  one  expression  of  the  depth  of 
their  love.  Sylvia  looking  into  his  eyes  said 
"I  came  to  Tibet  to  find  if  men  were  real. 
I  do  not  know  you  but  I  do.  In  Tibet,  out 
of  Tibet,  anywhere  I  will  go  with  you.  Man 
of  laughter — man  of  courage — man  of  eyes 
of  musket  steel." 

Lozong  had  been  waiting  out  of  hearing 
distance  of  their  low  voices,  but  he  came 
when  they  called. 

"We  do  not  want  to  banish  you,"  the  doc- 
tor told  him.  "You  who  have  given  up  your 
brothers  for  us.  You  are  our  brother  now 
as  long  as  you  live,  and  there  will  always  be 
a  home  for  you  in  the  little  hospital.  Lo- 
zong, will  you  not  believe  in  Christ  now? 
It  would  mean  everything  to  the  lives  of  the 
people  in  this  far  country  if  you  could  do 
that.  You  who  have  terrorized  men,  can 
you  not  now  love  and  help  them  instead?" 

While  the  doctor  was  speaking,  a  strange 

look  came  into  the  woman's  eyes.    No  word 

of  their  future  had  been  spoken  except  what 

she  had  said.    What  did  he  mean  when  he 

220 


'GREATER  LOVE  HATH  NO  MAN" 

said  that  Lozong  could  come  to  their  home 
in  the  hospital?  Surely  he  did  not  mean 
that  she  was  to  be  a  missionary.  But  why 
not!  The  greatest  adventure  of  all  time  is 
to  open  new  roads  and  new  lands  to  the  only 
real  civilization,  the  one  that  follows  the  mes- 
sengers of  Christ.  The  path  she  was  follow- 
ing was  indeed  strange,  but  she  did  not 
question  it.  This  night  was  theirs.  Ques- 
tions could  be  answered  at  another  time. 

The  doctor  talked  with  Lozong  for  a  long 
time.  He  put  aside  for  a  moment  the  joy 
of  his  love  in  his  eagerness  to  tell  Lozong 
of  Christ's  larger  love  for  him,  and  that  He 
said  "that  if  a  man  forsake  not  father  and 
mother  and  brothers,  he  was  none  of  His." 

At  last  the  doctor  realized  that  it  was 
growing  very  late. 

"The  lady  must  sleep,"  he  told  Lozong. 

"Yes,"  the  chief  replied,  "tell  her  to  rest 
in  the  tent  for  we  must  seek  the  road  early 
in  the  morning.  I  will  look  after  the  horses. 
My  brothers  will  know  by  this  time  that  you 
are  here,  and  we  must  find  the  third  pass 
221 


before  the  sun  is  high  in  the  heavens — the 
pass  that  leads  to  your  hospital  in  the  vil- 
lage." 

Sylvia  Lambert  slept  inside  the  tent, 
while  the  two  men  guarded  the  entrance. 
They  were  united  now,  for  one  reached  out 
to  his  God  whom  he  knew  would  understand, 
and  the  old  formalism  dropped  from  the 
other  as  he  prayed,  "Oh,  unknown  God, 
teach  me  Thy  way." 

It  seemed  to  the  doctor  that  he  had  slept 
only  a  few  moments  when  Lozong  called 
him — for  in  the  joy  of  his  love  and  new 
hope  it  was  a  long  time  before  sleep  had 
overtaken  him.  They  were  soon  on  their 
way,  for  the  tent  was  left  standing  and  the 
camp  untouched.  The  doctor  rode  ahead, 
followed  by  the  woman,  then  the  silent  Lo- 
zong. In  seeing  them  safely  on  the  road  to 
the  hospital  he  was  making  his  supreme 
gift.  He  knew  that  his  brothers  were  not 
far  behind.  When  the  doctor  halted  for  a 
moment,  Lozong  urged  him  on.  "We  must 
ride  fast,"  he  said,  and  when  they  reached 
222 


"GREATER  LOVE  HATH  NO  MAN" 

the  second  pass,  he  turned  to  look  back  over 
the  road  they  had  traveled.  "We  must  ride 
even  faster,"  he  urged  again.  The  doctor 
knew  what  he  meant — that  back  in  the  val- 
ley below  the  brothers  were  following. 
Pressing  on  as  fast  as  possible,  they  at  last 
reached  the  top  of  the  pass.  Below  lay  the 
little  mission  hospital.  By  following  un- 
frequented trails  across  the  mountains  they 
had  covered  in  a  few  hours  the  distance 
-vvhich  the  doctor  had  traveled  during  several 
days  of  his  ministry. 

As  they  looked  down  upon  the  town,  the 
doctor  pointed  out  the  mission  hospital  nest- 
Ing  among  the  flat  roofs. 

"That  is  our  home,  and  that  includes  you, 
Lozong." 

"Are  we  to  stay  here?"  asked  the  woman. 

"Yes,  sweetheart,  but  you  shall  have  your 
wish  after  all,  for  beginning  from  that  little 
hospital  we  shall  together  seek  Lhasa.  We 
shall  not  go  as  travelers,  to  face  the  dangers 
of  uncertain  adventure,  but  shall  find  our 
way  through  that  hospital  when  the  gospel 
223 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  BEGINS 

of  our  faith  shall  have  opened  a  broad  road 
by  means  of  the  service  we  shall  render  these 
people.  Other  roads  lead  to  Lhasa  but  men 
have  forever  closed  them  because  they  have 
tried  to  open  them  with  firearms,  but  this 
road  which  only  the  Buddhist  pilgrim  and 
government  messenger  knows  we  shall  open 
by  service  and  love  to  the  messengers  of 
Christ  forever." 

Lozong  turned  again  to  look  back  over  the 
pass,  and  following  his  glance,  they  saw  in 
the  distance  a  group  of  horsemen  riding 
towards  them. 

"I  cannot  stay  longer,"  he  said,  "but  per- 
haps if  your  Christ  wills  it  I  may  come  to 
you  in  the  hospital  yonder  and  be  as  a 
brother  to  you." 

Impulsively  reaching  out,  as  he  lifted  his 
hands  with  palms  upward  in  the  Tibetan 
sign  of  farewell,  Sylvia  Lambert  grasped 
the  hands  of  Lozong. 

"Oh,  Lozong,  you  are  my  brother,  for 
you  have  saved  me." 

He  loosened  her  hands  gently,  turned  his 
224 


"GREATER  LOVE  HATH  NO  MAN" 

horse  and  rode  down  the  pass.  The  doctor 
started  to  follow,  then  hesitated,  for  he  had 
seen  the  horsemen  riding  hard,  and  knew 
that  Lozong  could  meet  them  better  alone. 

They  had  ridden  only  a  short  distance 
when  the  sharp  report  of  a  shot  reverberated 
among  the  mountain  peaks.  The  doctor 
lifted  a  sad  face  to  the  sky.  That  sound 
could  have  but  one  meaning. 

The  woman  dropped  her  head  down  upon 
the  horse's  mane,  weeping,  the  pity  of  the 
sacrifice  overwhelming  her. 

The  doctor  uncovered  his  head  as  he  said, 

"Greater  love  had  no  man  than  this,  that 
a  man  shall  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends." 


THE  END 


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